nmm 


msm 


■;iU  V'  ;::': 


>  mivmii  LiBRpY  | 

— -k-OF-w- —  J 


A  BO-BROWED  BOOR  IS  BORROWED  CAPITAL 


THE  UNIVERSITY 


OF  ILLINOIS 


LIBRARY 


Return  this  book  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 

Theft,  mutilation,  and  underlining  of  books 
are  reasons  for  disciplinary  action  and  may 
result  in  dismissal  from  the  University. 
University  of  Illinois  Library 


n 

l*  +'  L 


3  1376 


i  !  ;  f /  V.  i  U 


m  © 


OCT  28 1392 

/  1"  r\  "t 

NOV  0  ft 


L161— 0-1096 


-  ■  , 


\* 


;i 


I  r- 


\  ' 


.  \ 


\ 


r  _  v. 


v 


\ 


\ 


/ 


•A 


'V. 


V 


\ 

HKvr .  *  \  •:  • 

i  .  •  1 


WORKS  BY  JOSEPH  PARKER,  D.D. 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  Discourses  upon  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

In  25  volumes.  Each  volume  complete  in  itself.  8vo,  cloth,  per  vol. 

$1.50.  ' 

Rev.  C.  H.  Spuegeon  :  “Dr.  Parker  has  begun  a  stupendous  work  in 
this  People’s  Bible;  but  its  accomplishment  lies  within  the  possibilities 
of  his  fertile  mind,  should  life  and  health  be  spared.  He  condenses 
wonderfully,  and  throws  a  splendor  of  diction  over  all  that  he  pours 
forth.  His  track  is  his  own,  and  the  jewels  which  he  lets  fall  in  his 
progress  are  from  his  own  caskets;  this  will  give  a  permanent  value  to  his 
works,  when  the  productions  of  copyists  will  be  forgotten.” 


APOSTOLIC  LIFE,  as  Revealed  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Discourses 
upon  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  In  three  volumes.  8vo,  cloth,  each 
$1.50. 

The  Congregalionalist,  Boston:  “  They  are  exceedingly  stirring  sermons 
in  the  best  sense.” 

The  Christian  Union,  New  York :  “  Sermons  rich  in  life  and  power, 
pungent,  practical,  faithful  and  fearless.” 

The  Interior,  Chicago  :  “  Dr.  Parker’s  style  is  always  incisive,  vigorous 
and  original,  and  when  he  has  a  clear  conception  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit, 
as  it  is  revealed  in  the  Word,  few  men  can  fasten  a  truth  more  firmly  on 
the  minds  of  their  readers  or  hearers.” 


THE  INNER  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  Discourses  upon  St.  Matthew’s  Gospel. 
In  three  volumes.  (1)  “These  Sayings  of  Mine.”  (2)  “  Servant  of 
All.”  (3)  “  Things  Concerning  Himself.”  8vo,  cloth,  each  $1.50. 

The  Examiner,  New  York  :  “  In  many  respects  these  are  model  sermons. 
They  are  addressed  to  the  mind,  feeling,  necessities  of  ordinary  men. 
They  are  fresh,  vigorous,  instructive,  and  tend  to  make  men  wish  to  be¬ 
come  better.  They  are  full  of  points.  They  are  weighty  with  the 
Gospel.” 

The  Literary  World,  London  :  “  Most  preachers’  texts  are  nails  and  their 
sermons  tack-hammers.  With  Dr.  Parker,  his  text  is  a  bolt  and  his  ser¬ 
mon  a  sledge-hammer.” 


FUNK  &  WAGNALLS,  Publishers, 


New  York. 


THE 


BIBLE: 


DISCOURSES  UPON  HOLY  SCRIPTURE . 


BY 

JOSEPH  PARKER,  D.D., 

Minister  of  the  City  Temple,  Holborn  Viaduct,  London. 

“  THE  INNER  LIFE  OF  CHI’JST,”  ETC. 


} 


VOL.  V. 

JOSHUA— JUDGES  V* 


NEW  YORK : 

FUNK  &  WAGNALLS,  Publishers, 

18  and  20  Astor  Place. 

1887. 


tzo.^l 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

DEUTERONOMY— 

“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE  **  ,  ,  .  .  I 

THE  GREAT  QUESTIONS  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH  .  .  .  1 4 

THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE.  .  #  .  .  .29 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOSHUA— 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

45 

ASPECTS  OF  HUMAN  CHARACTER 

• 

• 

• 

• 

62 

UNANIMITY  .  • 

• 

7i 

THE  SPIRIT  AND  PURPOSE  OF 

DIVINE 

PROVIDENCE 

• 

• 

80 

THE  NEW  SYMBOL  • 

• 

,  • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

88 

UP  TO  THE  BRINK  • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

97 

MEMORIAL  STONES  • 

107 

COMING  UP  OUT  OF  JORDAN 

• 

• 

* 

• 

• 

116 

MEMORABLE  EVENTS 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

126 

SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

1 36 

DISCIPLINE  .  • 

• 

• 

• 

* 

• 

• 

i47 

HINDERED  BY  SIN  * 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

i56 

CURIOUS  CONJUNCTIONS 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

163 

ACHAN  A  REPRESENTATIVE  MAN 

• 

• 

• 

• 

172 

THE  TAKING  OF  AI  SPIRITUALISED 

• 

• 

• 

• 

179 

592382 


IV 


CONTENTS . 


PAGES 

THE  BOOK  OF  JOSHUA  — Continued. 


THE  GIBEONITES 

•  • 

• 

• 

* 

• 

• 

• 

186 

THE  LORD’S  ARTILLERY  .  , 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

x95 

FIVE  MODERN  KINGS 

•  • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

202 

TYPES  OF  CHRISTIAN 

WARFARE 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

2  1 1 

A  RECORDED  LIFE  . 

•  • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

220 

Caleb’s  claim  • 

.  *  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

228 

DISTRIBUTION  .  . 

•  • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

237 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE 

LAND  . 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

244 

AFTER  REST 

•  • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

254 

“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE  ” 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

273 

EXCURSUS 

•  • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

29O 

THE  BOOK  OF 

JUDGES 

INTRODUCTION  # 

305 

ADONI-BEZEK  .  . 

•  • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

3°8 

TRIBUTARIES  .  . 

•  • 

e 

m 

% 

• 

• 

3X3 

DIVINE  AND  IIUMi4  N  INFLUENCE 

• 

♦ 

• 

• 

• 

324 

OTHNIEL  .  #  . 

• 

333 

EHUD  •  •  • 

• 

339 

SHAMGAR  .  .  , 

• 

344 

DEBORAH  AND  HER  SONG.  9 

• 

• 

• 

• 

348 

356 


INDEX 


THE  PENTATEUCH 

( Continued ). 


“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE,” 

FOR  ALL  GLEANERS. 


“  Yet  in  this  thing  ye  did  not  believe 
the  Lord  your  God.” — Deut.  i.  32. 

•Note  the  possibility  of  partial  faith. 
— There  may  be  very  considerable 
credence  in  divine  promises,  yet  there 
may  be  one  weak  point. — In  this  as  in 
other  respects  the  law  holds  good  :  he 
that  offends  in  one  point  offends  in  all. 
— Faith  is  no  stronger  than  its  weakest 
point. — We  must  not  expect  to  realise 
divine  blessings  if  we  bring  a  crippled 
faith  to  the  exercise. — It  is  sometimes 
supposed  that  faith  is  one  act,  and  that 
as  such  it  is  either  strong  or  weak. 
— All  consciousness  and  all  spiritual 
history  distinctly  disprove  this  theory. 
— We  may  have  a  general  faith  in  the 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  yet 
encounter  with  'Strong  doubt  some 
particular  injunction  or  promise  which 
appeals  to  our  self-sacrifice. — We  may 
believe  in  other  men  praying  and  have 
doubts  about  our  own  prayers. — We 
may  have  general  faith  in  Christian 
doctrine  and  yet  be  lacking  ii}  the  par¬ 
ticular  faith  which  applies  that  doctrine 
to  actual  life. — We  should  examine  the 
whole  line  of  faith  day  by  day  to  see 


1  which  points  are  weak  and  to  amend 
them  accordingly. — What  if  we  believe 
God  and  do  not  practise  godliness  ? — 
Where  is  faith  then  ? 


“  Your  little  ones  .  .  .  shall  go  in 
thither.” — Deut.  i.  39. 

God’s  purposes  are  not  to  be  broken 
off.  —  Vvfherever  they  appear  to  be 
broken  off  it  is  only  in  detail  and 
momentarily :  the  great  line  still 
stretches  onward  towards  the  com¬ 
pletion  of  the  eternal  decree. — It  is 
not  in  the  power  of  man  to  frustrate 
the  purposes  of  heaven. — Why  do  the 
heathen  rage  ? — The  generations  are 
one  as  to  the  divine  intention,  though 
multitudinous  in  their  particular  de¬ 
tails;  the  divine  thought,  therefore, 
cannot  be  judged  here  and  now  or 
at  any  particular  break  in  history,  it 
must  be  judged  when  all  is  completed 
and  sealed. — The  first  shall  be  last 
and  the  last  shall  be  first. — Those  whc 
are  little  now  may  be  great  hereafter. 
— The  little  are  not  condemned  be¬ 
cause  of  the  sins  of  their  ancestors. — 
Our  fathers  have  failed,  but  that  is 


VOL.  V. 


1 


2 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


no  reason  why  we  should  not  succeed. 
— God’s  regard  is  continually  fixed 
upon  character,  and  never  upon  mere 
personality. — Heaven  is  for  the  good 
and  for  none  else,  so  all  wealth,  power, 
fame  go  for  nothing  in  view  of  that 
grand  realisation. — There  is  always  a 
promise  laid  up  for  humanity.  Better 
things  are  yet  to  grow  upon  the  earth, 
and  fairer  lights  are  yet  to  shine  on 
human  history. — The  future  has  a 
continual  influence  upon  the  present. 
— Posterity  ought  to  do  something  for 
contemporaries,  where  the  mind  is 
alive  to  the  influence  of  actions  and 
the  certainty  of  harvest  coming  after 
seed-time. 


“  There  was  not  one  city  too  strong  for 
ns:' — Deut.  ii.  36. 

This  is  a  human  testimony  to  divine 
promise. — Every  city  appeared  to  be 
too  strong,  yet  in  the  strength  of  the 
Almighty  the  most  powerful  cities  were 
as  straw  before  fire. — What  is  true 
of  cities  is  true  of  temptations. — There 
need  not  be  one  temptation  that  can 
distress  the  tried  Christian. — If  left  to 
himself  every  temptation  would  be  too 
much  for  him  ;  but  he  is  never  left  to 
himself ;  he  is  fighting  God’s  battle  ; 
he  is  not  at  the  war  at  his  own  charges, 
but  at  the  cost  of  God,  and  under  the 
security  of  heaven. — When  we  reach 
the  better  land  we  shall  be  enabled  to 
repeat  this  testimony  according  to  the 
variety  of  the  circumstances  through 
which  we  have  come. — It  will  apply 
to  difficulties  of  every  kind, — personal, 
social,  spiritual  :  the  testimony  will 
be  that  throughout  the  whole  scheme 
of  life  he  that  was  for  us  was  more 
than  all  they  that  were  against  us. — 
My  soul,  hope  thou  in  God  1 


“  Thou  hast  begun  to  shew  thy  servant 
thy  greatness." — Deut.  iii.  24. 

This  is  what  is  always  happening. 


— The  broadest  revelation  is  but  a 
beginning  of  the  disclosure  of  divine 
riches. — Even  if  there  be  no  more  seed 
given,  the  possibilities  of  growth  and 
development  are  infinite. — At  the  last 
we  shall  feel  that  we  have  but  begun 
to  see  the  greatness  of  God. — This  is 
the  glory  of  the  Bible  :  no  man  can 
read  it  through  with  the  feeling  that 
he  has  exhausted  its  whole  meaning. 
— The  Bible  grows  by  being  read. — 
Without  doing  any  violence  to  words 
or  to  historical  forms  it  is  felt  that 
again  and  again  new  meanings  sur¬ 
prise  the  soul  like  unexpected  light. — 
The  same  rule  holds  good  with  regard 
to  providence,  or  the  daily  ministry  of 
life. — There  comes  a  day  in  every  man’s 
history  when  he  sees  the  beginning  of 
the  greatness  of  God  in  the  outlining 
and  direction  of  his  own  life. — Looking 
back  to  his  fancy,  his  weakness,  his 
poverty,  his  friendlessness  it  may  be, 
he  is  surprised  to  find  how  out  of  the 
very  dust  of  the  earth  God  has  made 
•  a  man. — It  is  a  singular  testimony  but 
universal  in  the  Christian  Church  that 
God  is  never  regarded  as  a  dwindling 
quantity  or  as  a  contracting  revelation  ; 
he  is  always  represented  as  sur¬ 
prising  students,  believers,  worship¬ 
pers,  with  new  resources. — He  is  able 
to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all 
that  we  ask  or  think. — When  man  has 
overtaken  God  he  will  himself  be  God. 
— It  is  of  the  very  essence  of  God 
that  he  should  be  unsearchable  and 
his  wisdom  past  finding  out. — This 
should  be  an  encouragement  to  us  in 
our  spiritual  education.  —  Progress 
should  be  the  law  and  the  motto  of 
every  process  of  spiritual  inquiry. — 
There  is  always  some  unattained 
height,  some  unmeasured  orb,  sorhe  un¬ 
traversed  ocean. — “  I  count  not  myself 
to  have  apprehended.” — Grow  in  grace 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. — All  human  education  is 
but  a  series  of  beginnings. — Finality 


“  HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE.” 


3 


in  religious  progress  is  impossible,  and 
where  it  is  supposed  to  have  been 
attained  the  supposition  risks  the 
destiny  of  the  soul. 


“  Behold  .  .  .  not  go.” — Deut.  iii.  27. 

This  was  what  was  to  occur  in  the 
case  of  Moses.  He  was  to  have  a  sight 
of  the  promised  land,  but  he  was  not 
to  go  into  it. — This  was  no  exceptional 
act  on  the  part  of  God  ;  on  the  contrary 
it  is  what  he  is  always  doing  as  the 
ages  move  onwards. — There  are  men 
who  see  what  they  will  never  per¬ 
sonally  enjoy;  and  however  much 
their  impatience  may  wish  to  turn 
sight  into  still  closer  uses,  they  are 
filled  with  ecstatic  joy  even  by  the 
vision  of  the  good  things  which  are 
yet  to  come. — In  this  way  we  should 
live  in  one  another  and  for  one  another. 
— Moses  could  return  from  the  moun¬ 
tain  and  say  that  he  had  seen  the 
good  land  ;  even  that  message  would 
be  a  comfort  to  those  who  were  weary, 
and  in  whom  wonder  was  fast  turn¬ 
ing  into  doubt. — There  must  always 
be  men  in  a  progressive  age  who  see 
further  than  others. — As  some  see  the 
time  when  men  shall  learn  war  no 
more. — Others  see  the  time  when 
there  will  be  no  need  for  any  man 
to  say  to  his  brother,  “  Know  the 
Lord,”  for  all  shall  know  him  from 
the  least  unto  the  greatest.  —  This 
method  of  divine  providence  is  educa¬ 
tional,  inasmuch  as  it  shows  that 
not  to  go  does  not  prevent  the  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  the  soul  in  the  prospect  of 
realised  promises.  It  is  something  to 
submit  gracefully  to  a  subordination 
of  the  individual,  and  to  accept  gladly 
benefits  which  are  intended  for  the 
whole  commonwealth. — There  is  no 
tone  of  impatience  in  the  statement  of 
Moses  when  he  hears  the  Lord’s  pro¬ 
position. — We  must  accept  our  place 


whether  we  are  seers  or  literal  travel¬ 
lers. — It  is  no  small  pleasure  to  see 
even  in  dream  or  in  assured  hope  the 
beautiful  summer  which  is  yet  to 
spread  its  glories  over  the  whole  land. 
— The  enjoyment  is,  indeed,  intensely 
spiritual,  but  not,  for  that  reason,  the 
less  real. — Moses  may  have  had  a 
fuller  realisation  of  the  promised  land 
than  the  children  of  Israel ;  they 
had  to  endure  the  battle  and  the 
fatigue,  and  to  win  their  way  inch 
by  inch :  Moses  saw  the  land,  and 
knew  that  every  foot  of  it  would  be 
given  to  the  people  whom  he  had  led. 
— Aged  Christians  must  take  this 
standpoint. — Exhausted  ministers  must 
content  themselves  with  the  view  that 
is  before  them,  and  leave  others  to 
secure  that  view  in  all  its  detail  and 
literal  value. — The  oldest  man  should 
have  the  keenest  sight  into  the  beauti¬ 
ful  future. — He  uses  his  old  age  mis¬ 
chievously  who  uses  it  as  a  period 
of  languor  or  sleep  :  the  oldest  man 
should  have  the  most  cheerful  voice 
in  the  church. 


“  So  we  abode  in  the  valley .” — Deut. 
iii.  29. 

Places  have  moral  interest. — Some¬ 
times  the  valley  is  in  the  highland,  and 
is  therefore  only  a  valley  relatively: 
as  compared  with  valleys  far  away 
down  it  may  actually  be  a  very  high 
mountain. — The  lesson  we  have  to 
learn  is  to  abide  in  the  place  assigned 
by  Providence. — There  is  a  subtle  tone 
of  submission  and  patience  in  the  text. 
There  is  no  complaining  as  to  the  lot. 
— The  valley  is  accepted  as  a  sanctuary. 
It  was  a  valley  of  God’s  making,  and 
therefore  was  to  be  regarded  as  a 
place  on  which  he  had  expended  special 
care. — In  the  valley  we  may  have 
shelter. —  In  the  valley  we  may  have 
harvests. — In  the  valley  we  majT  have 


4 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


security. — It  is  the  business  of  the 
Christian  to  discover  the  advantages 
of  his  position  rather  than  to  moan 
over  its  disadvantages. — There  is  an¬ 
other  valley  in  which  we  shall  not 
abide,  but  shall  pass  through  it  under 
the  comfort  of  the  rod  and  the  staff  of 
the  divine  Shepherd. — Some  persons 
seem  never  to  get  out  of  the  valley ; 
they  literally  abide  in  it  as  men  abide 
in  a  home. — Who  are  we  that  we 
should  chide  the  Providence  which  has 
made  such  appointments?  How  do 
wre  know  how  much  the  dwellers  in 
the  valley  are  saved  from  ?  Who  can 
tell  what  compensations  fall  to  their 
lot? — The  text  is  not  supposed  to 
teach  the  kind  of  contentment  which 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  distinguish 
from  indifference.  Such  contentment 
is  no  virtue.  The  true  contentment 
is  that  which  accepts  the  hard  lot 
without  repining,  knowing  that  God 
has  some  good  purpose  in  its  appoint¬ 
ment,  and  assured  that  even  the  hardest 
position  may  be  turned  to  noble  uses. 
— When  our  superiors  attempt  to  keep 
us  in  the  valley  we  may  well  inquire 
as  to  their  authority :  when  God  means 
us  to  abide  in  the  valley  we  may  be 
sure  that  he  will  not  forsake  us  in  our 
lowest  estate. 


44  The  Lord  hath  brought  you  forth  .  .  . 
out  of  the  iron  furnace .” — Deut. 
iv.  20. 

Imagery  is  sometimes  the  most  real 
method  of  representation.  There  was 
neither  furnace  nor  iron  in  the  case 
in  any  literal  sense,  and  yet  the  moral 
experience  of  the  people  could  not 
better  be  represented  than  that  of 
having  spent  no  small  portion  of  their 
life  in  a  burning  fiery  furnace. — Sorrow 
creates  its  own  imagery. — What  is 
exaggeration  to  one  man  is  literal 
truth  to  another. — We  are  indebted  to 
sorrow  for  the  sublimest  imagery. — 


The  Psalms  are  full  of  prool  that  such 
is  the  case. — The  divine  power  is 
always  magnified  by  spiritual  wor¬ 
shippers. —  l'hey  do  not  look  upon 
history  as  a  series  of  chances,  but  as 
a  line  along  which  the  divine  Being 
moves  with  dignity  and  beneficence. — 
He  allows  men  to  be  thrown  into  the 
iron  furnace,  and  has  profound  reasons 
for  so  doing ;  it  is  not  his  pleasure 
that  they  should  be  there,  but  it  is 
certainly  for  their  good  that  they  should 
know  the  ministry  of  fire  :  the  Lord 
knows  exactly  how  long  we  have  been 
in  the  furnace  :  he  knows  precisely 
what  benefit  has  arisen  from  our  being 
there :  he  knows  when  to  liberate  us 
from  distress  and  despair. — There  is 
no  furnace  too  deep  for  the  Lord  to 
penetrate. — Though  the  furnace  be  of 
iron  he  can  melt  it  and  lead  forth  the 
captive  with  a  new  song  in  his  mouth. 
— Do  not  regard  furnaces  as  of  men’s 
construction,  or  as  expressing  the 
triumph  of  evil  principles. — There  hath 
no  temptation  happened  unto  you  that 
is  not  directly  sent  of  God,  in  the  sense 
of  trial  and  discipline. — He  who  has 
come  out  •  of  the  furnace  can  speak 
most  tenderly  of  the  power  and  com¬ 
passion  of  God. — Not  to  have  been  in 
the  furnace  is  not  to  have  been  in  one 
of  the  most  fruitful  schools  appointed 
by  Providence  for  the  education  of 
mankind. — To  have  been  in  the  furnace 
is  to  have  learned  the  holy  art  of 
sympathy.  To  have  been  comforted 
ourselves  is  to  be  qualified  to  give 
comfort  to  others. — He  who  has  dug 
most  graves  can  speak  most  tenderly 
to  the  bereaved. — He  who  has  stood 
in  the  midst  of  desolated  acres  without 
losing  his  confidence  in  God  is  by  so 
much  qualified  to  preach  the  duty  and 
the  joy  of  resignation. — The  whole 
human  race  will  one  day  be  led  out 
of  the  furnace,  but  not  until  the  lessons 
of  that  tremendous  discipline  have 
been  fully  learned  and  applied  in  all  the 


“  HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE.” 


5 


progress  and  duty  of  life. — Through¬ 
out  the  whole  of  the  Scriptures  it  is 
the  Lord  who  is  magnified  and  not 
man  who  is  praised  for  having  found 
out  some  secret  way  of  escape. — To 
know  the  Lord  as  a  Deliverer  in  great 
crises  and  straits  is  to  be  assured  that, 
in  all  the  minor  difficulties  and  trials 
of  life,  his  presence  shall  be  our 
protection  and  our  hope. 


M  I  must  not  go  .  .  .  but  ye  shall  go.” — 
Deut.  iv.  22. 

This  is  a  brave  speech  on  the  part 
of  an  old  man.  Such  speeches  ought 
to  be  uttered  by  the  most  advanced 
Christians  to-day. — This  man  utters 
his  speech  without  complaint. — It  seems 
impossible  to  reconcile  the  imperfect 
revelation  granted  to  some  men  with 
the  goodness  of  God. — They  come  so 
near  seeing  the  perfect  light,  and  yet 
die  without  beholding  the  noontide 
glor}?. — It  would  have  been  very  dif¬ 
ferent  with  the  people  had  Moses  been 
a  man  of  another  spirit;  querulous, 
discontented,  complaining  against  God. 
— The  spirit  of  progress  rejoices  in  the 
progress  of  others. — We  are  not  to 
limit  the  revelation  of  God  by  that 
which  we  see  ourselves. — We  must 
look  to  the  future  of  the  race  and  see 
in  that  future  something  brighter  than 
has  yet  shone  upon  our  own  vision. — 
That  thought  may  be  applied  to  theo¬ 
logical  thinkers. — There  is  nothing 
final  in  theological  investigation. — 
Interpretation  will  show  the  progres¬ 
siveness  even  of  the  Bible  itself. — 
The  greatest  students  of  the  book  die 
exclaiming  to  the  younger  men,  “Ye 
shall  go  over,  and  possess  the  good 
land.” — The  thought  should  also  be 
applied  to  Christian  workers  as  well 
as  to  Christian  students. — Though  we 
die  without  reaping  the  harvest,  the 
harvest  will  surely  be  reaped  by  others. 


— We  should  so  live  that  when  we 
come  to  die  our  last  speech  may  be 
one  of  encouragement  to  the  men  who 
are  following. — The  man  who  dies 
thus  does  not  die  at  all,  in  any  de¬ 
grading  sense. — Moses,  though  dead 
according  to  the  flesh,  lived  in  all  the 
power  of  the  spirit,  and  was  a  continual 
inspiration  to  the  people  whom  he  . 
had  led  so  many  years  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness. — There  is  always  a  good  land 
to  be  possessed ;  a  land  of  larger 
liberty;  a  land  of  larger  knowledge; 
a  land  of  surer  trust  in  divine  realities. 
— The  spirit  of  the  Church  must  be 
a  spirit  of  conquest;  when  it  drops 
from  this  noble  elevation  it  inflicts 
upon  itself  a  most  humiliating  dis¬ 
ability.  * 


“ The  Lord  made  not  this  covenant  with 
our  fathers ,  but  with  us,  even  us, 
who  are  all  of  us  here  alive  this 
day.” — Deut.  v.  3. 

There  is  a  general  revelation  in¬ 
tended  for  all  men  through  all  time. — 
There  is  also  a  special  revelation  given 
to  individuals,  and  limited  by  precise 
periods  of  duration. — All  moral  revela¬ 
tion — that  is,  revelation  dealing  with 
righteousness,  truth,  duty — is  universal 
and  everlasting. — Jesus  Christ  an¬ 
swered  the  lawyer  who  temptingly 
questioned  him,  “What  is  written  in 
the  law  ?  how  readest  thou?” — Whilst 
it  is  true  that  some  portions  of  the 
Bible  were  written  for  individuals,  and 
were  limited  by  local  circumstances, 
it  is  surprising  how  many  of  these  • 
apparently  merely  local  texts  assume 
a  relation  to  our  individual  necessities. 

— Wherever  this  is  the  case  we  have 
been  mistaken  in  calling  such  passages 
local  and  limited. — The  heart  often 
creates  its  own  Scripture.  When  the 
true  soul  reads  the  Bible  and  sees  in 
it  an  anticipation  of  his  distresses  and 
a  remedy  for  his  sufferings,  he  is 


6 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


entitled  to  believe  that  the  passage  was 
written  for  himself  as  if  he  had  been 
the  only  individual  in  the  world. — We 
are  not  to  go  in  quest  of  these  passages 
as  if  with  an  intention  to  force  them 
into  new  meanings,  but  when  they 
open  naturally  to  the  touch  of  necessity 
and  pain  we  are  certainly  entitled  to 
accept  their  doctrine  and  their  solace. 
— It  is  beyond  all  doubt  that  every 
law  bearing  upon  purity  of  spirit  and 
goodness  of  conduct  was  written  for 
the  benefit  of  the  whole  race  through¬ 
out  every  age  of  its  development. — 
This  is  at  once  the  glory  and  the 
defence  of  the  Bible. — It  abides  through 
all  time;  the  Word  of  the  Lord  en- 
dureth  for  ever. — The  Bible  is  a  book 
addressed  to  humanity,  and  therefore 
it  is  at  home  in  every  land  and  in 
every  language. — It  has  been  remarked 
upon  as  a  notable  and  suggestive 
circumstance  that  no  book  is  so  avail¬ 
able  for  purposes  of  translation  into 
all  tongues  as  is  the  Bible. — Every 
man  whose  soul  is  hungry  has,  by 
virtue  of  his  hunger,  a  right  to  this 
tree  of  life. — Let  every  one  beware, 
however,  how  he  takes  the  consola¬ 
tions  and  omits  the  commandments. — 
This  would  be  a  felonious  use  of  the 
Scriptures. — The  Bible  is  not  to  be 
read  as  a  compliment  to  our  feelings, 
but  as  a  stimulus  to  our  whole  nature, 
that  the  man  of  God  may  be  thoroughly 
instructed  and  perfected  in  all  holiness. 
— Many  men  are  particular  about 
having  the  covenants  confirmed  who 
do  not  appear  to  be  quite  so  particular 
about  having  the  commandments 
obeyed. 


“  The  Lord  loved  yon." — Deut.  vii.  8. 

The  word  love  is  an  Old  Testament 
word. — It  would  not  be  difficult  to 
show  that  the  tenderest  expressions 
ever  used  by  heaven  to  earth  are  re¬ 
ported  not  in  the  New  Testament  but 


in  the  Old. — It  is  not  enough  for  the 
people  to  know  that  their  Lord  is 
almighty,  because  power  may  become 
a  terror. — Not  only  power  bclongeth 
unto  God  but  also  mercy:  this  is  the 
complete  aspect  of  the  divine  nature. 
— That  the  Lord  loved  Israel  was 
shown  by  long-suffering,  by  hopeful 
patience,  by  pouring  down  blessing 
upon  blessing,  notwithstanding  the  in¬ 
gratitude  of  the  people  ;  it  would  seem 
as  if  even  sin  itself  was  hardly  allowed 
to  block  out  the  light  of  heaven. — The 
love  of  God  is  the  true  interpretation 
of  the  history  of  man  in  all  its  move¬ 
ment  towards  nobility  and  spiritual 
sovereignty  and  rest. — Nothing  but 
love  could  account  for  the  continu¬ 
ance  of  the  world  under  all  its  sinful¬ 
ness  and  ingratitude. — It  is  love  that 
explains  the  greatest  revelations  of 
God. — It  is  love  that  explains  the  Cross 
of  Jesus  Christ. — It  is  love  that  ex¬ 
plains  the  assured  progress  of  redeemed 
and  sanctified  souls. — The  love  of  God 
excludes  all  other  claims  to  his  at¬ 
tention  and  interest :  thus  we  are  not 
allowed  to  say  that  God’s  favours  come 
to  us  on  account  of  our  merit,  or 
ancestry,  or  excellence  above  others ; 
whatever  we  have  is  of  the  free  mercy 
and  love  of  God. — The  love  which 
explains  all  the  past  is  the  surest 
guarantee  of  all  the  future. — Love 
never  changes. — What  is  true  of  divine 
love  in  the  soul  is  true  of  that  same 
love  in  God  himself;  it  hopeth  all 
things,  endureth  all  things,  believeth 
all  things,  it  never  faileth. — It  is  our 
joy  to  believe  in  a  God  of  love ;  nay, 
in  our  highest  moods  we  do  not  regard 
love  as  an  attribute  of  God,  but  we 
say  God  himself  is  love. — Love  does 
not  exclude  discipline. — Love  does 
not  exclude  anger. — But  on  the  other 
side,  neither  discipline  nor  anger 
changes  or  diminishes  the  love  of  God. 
— “Good  when  he  gives,  supremely 
good  ;  not  less  when  he  denies.” 


“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSED 


7 


“  The  faithful  God.” — Deut.  vii.  9. 

Considerable  instruction  is  supplied 
by  noting  the  qualifying  terms  which 
arc  often  attached  to  the  divine  name. 
— We  read  of  the  living  God,  the 
mighty  God,  the  glorious  Lord  God, 
and  in  the  text  of  the  faithful  God. — 
Sometimes  the  qualifying  terms  are 
rather  repellent  than  attractive,  as,  for 
example,  “  the  great  and  terrible  God,” 
and  in  Daniel  we  read  of  the  “great 
and  dreadful  God.” — These  terms  do 
not  occur  in  the  New  Testament,  yet 
even  in  the  later  books  of  revelation 
God  is  described  as  “  a  consuming  fire,” 
and  in  the  Apocalypse  we  read  of 
“  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,”  so  that 
there  is  a  line  of  consistency  in  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  New  as  regards 
the  description  of  the  character  of  God. 
— Perhaps  there  is  no  word  which  is 
more  profoundly  comfortable  than  the 
word  “  faithful  ”  as  applied  to  the 
divine  Being. — It  would  appear  as  if 
“love”  were  more  attractive  and 
soothing,  but  this  is  an  appearance 
only.  Faithfulness  is  love;  without 
faithfulness  love  itself  would  be  im¬ 
possible,  because  it  would  become  a 
mere  sentiment,  liable  to  be  cooled 
and  changed  by  passing  circumstances. 
It  should  be  observed  that  even  in  the 
Old  Testament,  in  the  very  text  in 
which  the  divine  Being  is  described  as 
the  great  and  terrible  God,  he  is  further 
described  as  “  keeping  covenant  and 
mercy  for  evermore  with  them  that 
love  him  and  observe  his  command¬ 
ments.” — God  is  not  the  less  loving 
because  he  is  u  great  and  terrible.” 
— The  Apostle  Paul  is  very  fond  of 
applying  the  word  “  faithful  ”  to  God 
and  to  Jesus  Christ,  thus:  “Faithful 
is  he  that  calleth  you,  who  also  will 
do  it.” — “  The  Lord  is  faithful,  who 
shall  stablish  you,  and  keep  you 
from  evil.” — “God  is  faithful,  who 
will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted 


above  that  ye  are  able.” — “  God  is 
faithful,  by  whom  ye  were  called  unto 
the  fellowship  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.” — The  Apostle  John,  too, 
in  a  remarkable  passage,  avails  him¬ 
self  of  the  same  descriptive  term  : 
“  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful 
and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins.” — Thus 
forgiveness  itself  is  an  expression  of 
faithfulness  and  justice,  and  therefore 
may  be  accepted  as  essential  and  ever¬ 
lasting. — If  God  is  faithful  himself,  he 
expects  faithfulness  in  others. — He 
praises  faithfulness  in  those  who  have 
completed  their  course  of  life  honour¬ 
ably  :  “  Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant.” — He  would  see  himself  in 
others. — Faithfulness  means  consist¬ 
ency,  permanency,  reality  of  thought 
and  service,  and  is  absolutely  intole¬ 
rant  of  all  fickleness,  self-regard,  men- 
pleasing,  and  time-serving. — “  Be  thou 
faithful  unto  death.” 


u  to  possess  nations  greater  and 
mightier  than  thyself.” — Deut.  ix.  1. 

This  would  seem  to  be  an  inversion 
of  the  doctrine  of  proportion. — We 
forget,  however,  that  there  is  a  pro¬ 
portion  of  quality  as  well  as  a  propor¬ 
tion  of  quantity. — Force  is  not  to  be 
measured  by  bulk. — The  helm  is  very 
small  compared  to  the  whole  ship,  yet 
it  turns  the  vessel’s  course.  The  man 
is  very  small  physically  in  relation  to 
the  mountain  which  is  thousands  of 
feet  high,  yet  the  man  is  master  of 
the  mountain.  The  rider  is  small  in 
strength  compared  with  the  horse  he 
rides,  yet  the  steed  obeys  the  touch 
of  his  hand. — We  constantly  see  how 
apparently  little  things  rule  obviously 
great  bulks  and  quantities. — The  true 
sovereignty  is  in  the  spirit. — This  is 
the  seat  of  the  highest  miracles  that 
are  wrought;  such  miracles  simply 
|  illustrate  the  sovereign  influence  of 


8 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


mind  over  matter. — How  little  is  man 
as  to  mere  arithmetical  measurement 
compared  with  the  great  globe;  yet 
God  has  put  all  things  under  the  hands 
of  man :  “  All  sheep  and  oxen,  yea, 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field  ;  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and 
whatsoever  passeth  through  the  paths 
of  the  seas.” — Let  us  reason  upwards 
towards  moral  power :  the  power  of 
ideas,  impulses,  sympathies,  convic¬ 
tions. — The  time  will  come  when  moral 
forces  will  be  regarded  as  the  true 
sovereignties.  Towards  this  consum¬ 
mation  Christ  has  been  working  from 
the  beginning.  The  sword  shall  be 
beaten  into  a  ploughshare,  and  all 
violence  shall  be  deposed  by  the  quiet¬ 
ness  of  power. — Carry  this  a  step 
higher  into  the  religious  region,  and 
draw  frcm  the  whole  reasoning  the 
inference  that  the  religious  nature  is 
the  most  influential  of  all. — Truth 
shall  take  captive  all  the  superstitions, 
idolatries,  misconceptions,  and  false 
worships  of  the  world. — We  must 
admit  what  may  be  called  even  the 
smallest  truth  ;  let  it  have  free  course, 
and  it  will  overturn  the  most  ancient 
thrones  and  dominions  which  have 
been  claimed  by  the  powers  of  dark¬ 
ness. — Even  the  light  of  a  candle  will 
break  up  the  darkness  which  fills  the 
largest  building. — In  the  strength  of 
these  thoughts  and  hopes  every 
Christian  should  toil  gladty,  delight¬ 
ing  himself  with  the  pleasures  of  ex¬ 
pectancy,  knowing  that  the  whole 
earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  God. 


“  The  Lord  hearkened  unto  me  at  that 
time  also." — Deut.  ix.  19. 

The  memorable  prayers  of  life. — 
Times  of  conscious  conquest. — Who 
cannot  recall  periods  in  which  the 
Lord  by  consent  allowed  himself  to  be 
overthrown,  as  if  in  war  and  wrest¬ 


ling,  by  the  tender  violence  of  love  ?— 
These  great  memories  stimulate  us  to 
renewed  endeavours  in  prayer  and 
service. — We  date  our  best  endeavours 
from  our  latest  conquests. — Only  the 
good  man  can  say  whether  prayer 
can  be  answered  or  not. — Moses  here 
pledges  his  word  as  to  the  reality  of 
answered  prayer.  —  To  destroy  this 
answer  we  must  first  discredit  Moses. 
— This  is  the  real  reply  to  those  who 
would  discuss  the  virtue  of  prayer. — 
This  is  not  a  question  which  can  be 
settled  in  controversial  terms,  or  within 
the  narrow  grounds  of  verbal  defini¬ 
tion  ;  the  inquiry  must  be  addressed  to 
the  praying  soul  itself;  the  praying 
Sjoul  has  never  feared  to  say  that  its 
supplications  have  been  rewarded 
with  great  answers. — Family  history 
may  be  inquired  into  to  bear  evidence 
upon  this  matter.  What  of  sickness  ? 
What  of  deliverance  in  the  time  of 
vital  perplexity  ?  What  about  the 
dispersion  of  clouds  that  hung  like 
an  infinite  night  over  the  ^whole  life  ? 
What  of  sudden  and  unexpected 
answers  to  questions  which  we  ex¬ 
pected  would  cut  us  like  swords  ? — A 
man  must  be  very  wise  who  can  answer 
all  such  questions  offhandedly,  and 
dispense  with  the  idea  of  the  per¬ 
sonality  and  intervention  of  God  in 
the  shaping  and  direction  of  human 
affairs. 


“  Circumcise  therefore  the  foreskin  of 
your  heart! — Deut.  x.  16. 

What  God  wants  is  moral  purity. — 
We  cannot  live  in  rites  and  ceremonies. 
— It  was  well  to  begin  with  the  out¬ 
ward,  but  the  meaning  was  that  we 
should  go  forward  to  the  inward  and 
spiritual. — Nor  was  this  revelation  of 
the  spiritual  purpose  long  delayed ; 
even  in  the  Old  Testament  we  read, 
“Circumcise  yourselves  to  the  Lord, 
and  take  away  the  foreskins  of  your 


“  HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE: 


9 


heart,  ye  men  of  Judah.” — Nothing 
would  be  more  convenient  or  more 
pleasant  to  the  carnal  man  than  to 
merely  observe  some  outward  laws 
and  regulations ;  but  the  word  of  the 
Lord  is  sharper  than  any  two-edged 
sword,  and  its  business  is  done  in  the 
innermost  heart  of  man.  “  He  is  not 
a  Jew,  which  is  one  outwardly ;  neither 
is  that  circumcision,  which  is  outward 
in  the  flesh.  .  . .  Circumcision  is  that 
of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in 
the  letter.” — There  is,  therefore,  an 
evangelical  or  spiritual  circumcision. 
— “  In  whom  also  ye  are  circumcised 
with  the  circumcision  made  without 
hands,  in  putting  off  the  body  of  the 
sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  circumcision 
of  Christ.” — If  we  have  escaped  that 
which  is  physically  painful,  we  have 
come  into  that  which  is  spiritually 
disciplinary. — “  Rend  your  heart,  and 
not  your  garments.” — Man  himself  is 
called  upon  to  do  this,  not  that  he  has 
the  ability  to  complete  the  circumcision, 
but  any  desire  which  he  shows  to 
begm  it  will  call  the  almightiness  of 
God  to  his  aid. 


u  For  ye  are  not  as  yet  come  to  the  rest'' 
— Deut.  xii.  9. 

Still,  it  is  of  infinite  value  to  the 
soul  to  know  that  there  is  a  rest. — A 
man  is  helped  through  the  week  by 
knowing  that  he  is  coming  to  a  period 
when  labour  will  be  suspended,  and 
quietness  will  be  at  least  rendered 
possible. — If  we  are  stimulated  by 
beginnings,  we  are  comforted  by 
promised  endings. — To  be  told  that 
there  is  no  termination  to  the  road  we 
are  upon,  discourages  us  for  advancing 
even  the  next  few  yards ;  but  to  be 
told  that  every  few  }Tards  traversed 
will  bring  us  nearer  the  end,  where 
we  may  expect  home  and  rest  and 
security,  is  really  to  nerve  us  for 
service  and  danger. — Heaven  is  not 


promised  as  an  appeal  to  our  selfish¬ 
ness,  but  as  a  comfort  to  our  weakness 
and  a  sure  reward  of  all  obedience  and 
excellence  in  human  life. — Even  the 
Apostle  looked  forward  to  the  close 
with  the  highest  gratification  and 
thankfulness,  seeing,  as  he  did,  the 
crown  of  righteousness  which  was 
laid  up  for  him,  and  knowing  that  he 
should  join  the  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  firstborn. — A  man  need 
not  work  the  less  energetically  on 
Monday  because  he  sees  in  the  distance 
the  quiet  Sabbath-day  offering  him 
harbour  and  refuge. — There  is  a  period 
of  strife  which  is  to  be  succeeded  by 
a  period  of  rest.  But  what  rest  can 
he  have  who  has  never  known  the 
strife?  Is  not  all  pleasure,  in  some 
degree,  by  contrast?  The  sleep  of 
the  labouring  man  is  sweet,  simply 
because  he  is  a  labouring  man  and  has 
earned  the  repose  which  his  exhaus¬ 
tion  needs. — What  heaven  can  they 
have  who  have  made  earth  into  a 
mere  sleeping-place  or  garden  of 
delights,  having  walled  out,  so  far  as  it 
is  possible  to  human  wealth  and  vanity 
to  do  so,  all  darkness  and  necessity 
and  trouble? — What  a  home-coming 
must  the  true  soldier  have  who  is  con¬ 
scious  of  having  fought  patriotically 
and  daringly  in  the  interests  he  went 
out  to  ^erve ! — A  beautiful  picture 
is  given  of  the  ending  from  all  toil 
and  strife  in  the  good  cause. — -“And 
the  Lord  gave  them  rest  round  about, 
according  to  all  that  he  sware  unto 
their  fathers :  and  there  stood  not  a 
man  of  all  their  enemies  before  them ; 
the  Lord  delivered  all  their  enemies 
into  their  hand.” — Christ  himself  was 
encouraged  by  the  disclosed  termina¬ 
tion  of  his  toil  and  suffering. — He 
knew  that  he  must  reign  until  he  had 
put  all  enemies  under  his  feet. — For 
the  joy  that  was  set  before  him,  he 
endured  the  Cross,  despising  the  shame. 
Here  every  good  worker  may  be  com- 


10 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


forted  and  stimulated :  if  the  work 
were  to  go  on  for  ever,  it  seems  as  if 
our  poor  strength  would  regard  its 
continuity  with  despair;  but  not  know¬ 
ing  how  soon  it  may  end,  and  knowing 
that  all  faithfulness  will  end  in  heaven, 
the  soul  is  encouraged  to  put  on  its 
strength,  and  to  do  with  its  whole 
might  whatsoever  it  may  find  to  do. — 
“There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest  to 
the  people  of  God.” 


11 .  .  .  when  he  giveth  yon  rest  from  all 
your  enemies  round  about.  .  .  . 

Then  there  shall  be  a  place! — Deut. 

xii.  io,  II. 

There  are  temporary  rests  on  the 
road  of  life. — The  battle  is  sometimes 
suspended,  and  we  know  not  when 
it  may  be  resumed. — Some  spiritual 
use  is  to  be  made  even  of  temporary 
cessations  of  difficulty. — The  religious 
use  which  was  to  be  made  in  ancient 
times  of  periods  of  rest  expressed 
itself  in  the  building  of  altars  and  the 
offering  of  sacrifices. — Ancient  life 
seemed  to  be  divided  between  war 
and  worship. — In  reality  that  distribu¬ 
tion  would  seem  to  be  continued 
throughout  all  time. — The  Christian  is 
either  in  the  field  of  battle  or  in  the 
house  of  prayer. — Even  rest  is  not  to 
be  spent  slothfully,  but  is  to  be  enjoj^ed 
with  a  religious  purpose  as  well  as  to 
be  inspired  by  religious  thankfulness. 
— When  Jesus  Christ  offered  his 
disciples  rest,  it  was  only  for  a  limited 
time.  His  words  were,  “  Come  ye  into 
a  desert  place,  and  rest  a  while,” — not 
rest  a  long  time,  and  certainly  not  rest 
for  the  remainder  of  your  days,  but  rest 
a  while — take  a  breath,  stand  still  for 
a  moment,  and  then  resume  with  energy 
the  pursuits  of  life. — The  holiday  is 
only  to  make  the  subsequent  labour 
more  energetic  and  hopeful. — We  are 
not  to  use  rest  as  a  confection  which 
would  give  us  distaste  for  labour. — 


Nor  are  we  to  use  rest  as  a  kind  of 
opiate  which  would  disable  the  very 
powers  it  affects  to  renew. — Even  rest 
may  be  a  form  of  labour,  or,  at  least, 
it  may  be  so  enjoyed  as  to  give  the 
soul  promise  of  renewed  endeavour  to 
redeem  human  life  and  bless  the  human 
lot,  now  so  full  of  sadness,  and  now 
so  enfeebled  by  weariness. — It  is  but 
cowardice  for  men  to  run  away  from 
labour  that  they  ma}1-  enjoy  inglorious 
ease. — When  merchant-men  succeed 
in  laying  by  sufficient  to  maintain 
themselves  in  comfort,  they  should 
be  planning  some  new  sphere  of  ac¬ 
tivity,  so  that  they  may  bettdr  serve 
their  day  and  generation  when  they 
are  released  from  the  wear  and  tear 
of  the  drudgery  of  life. — No  man  is  to 
say  to  his  soul,  Take  thine  ease,  eat, 
drink,  and  be  merry;  he  is  rather  to 
say,  I  have  no  further  care  about  the 
body;  now  shall  my  soul  have  full 
swing  in  the  highest  and  best  activity. 
— This  is  the  true  preparation  before 
the  Sabbath — the  Sabbath  of  heaven. 


.  .  as  he  is  able! — Deut.  xvi.  17. 

This  is  the  law  of  giving  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  it  is  the  law  of  giving 
in  the  New  Testament. — It  is  a  just 
and  equitable  law. — It  devolves  a  su¬ 
preme  responsibility  upon  the  giver. — 
It  makes  him  an  accountant  in  the 
sight  of  God. — He  has  to  add  up  his 
resources  and  diligently  to  consider 
their  sum,  and  then  to  give  as  he  may 
be  able. — This  law  does  not  relate  to 
money  only,  but  to  time,  influence,  and 
sympathy. — Nothing  would  be  so  easy 
for  many  men  as  to  buy  themselves 
off,  by  the  gifts  of  money,  from  all 
further  service.  Simply  because  of 
the  abundance  of  their  wealth,  money 
is  as  nothing  to  them,  and  the  giving 
of  it  is  not  felt. — It  is  only  when  the 
giving  is  touched  with  the  pain  of 
sacrifice  that  it  becomes  of  any  value 


I 


“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE."  n 


in  the  sanctuary. — Still,  most  of  us 
have  to  begin  with  the  donation  of 
money,  but  no  man  has  to  end  with  it. 
— There  is  no  niggardliness  in  the 
promises  of  God  in  relation  to  the  true 
giver,  of  whatever  nature  his  gifts  may 
be. — “  Every  man  according  as  he 
purposeth  in  his  heart,  so  let  him  give ; 
not  grudgingly,  or  of  necessity:  for 
God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver.” — “He 
which  soweth  sparingly  shall  reap  also 
sparingly;  and  he  which  soweth 
bountifully  shall  reap  also  bountifully.” 
— Jesus  Christ  noticed  what  gifts  were 
thrown  into  the  treasury,  and  he  re¬ 
garded  them  all  in  the  light  of  propor¬ 
tion. — “God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget 
your  work  of  faith  and  labour  of  love.” 
— Not  a  cup  of  cold  water  is  to  go 
unrewarded  if  given  to  a  disciple  in 
the  name  of  Christ. — These  grand 
moral  standards  of  gift  and  service 
constitute  a  powerful  defence  of  the 
heavenly  origin  of  the  Bible. 


.  .  .  then  thy  brother  should  seem  vile 
unto  thee.” — Deut.  xxv.  3. 

This  was  the  law  of  punishment  as 
laid  down  by  Moses. — The  stripes  were 
to  be  not  more  than  forty,  because  if 
there  were  more — that  is  to  say,  if 
they  were  given  at  random — the  man 
who  received  them  would  become 
“vile”  in  the  sight  of  the  man  who 
inflicted  them. — A  measure  of  punish¬ 
ment  is  rendered  necessary  by  the 
quality  of  the  man  who  is  punished. — 
Man  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  beast 
of  burden.  Even  when  he  has  done 
wrong  he  is  a  man  still,  and  a  man 
capable  of  restoration  and  re-adoption 
into  good  citizenship. — Thus  mercy  is 
wonderfully  mingled  with  law  even  in 
the  Old  Testament. — When  God  cor¬ 
rected  his  people  he  said  he  would 


“correct  them  in  measure.” — Where 
the  punishment  ends  hope  is  to  begin. 
— This  is  really  the  meaning  of  all 
controversial  chastisements,  losses,  and 
difficulties  of  every  kind. — They  do 
not  come  with  overwhelming  and 
destructive  force ;  they  come  “  in 
measure,”  and  with  a  purpose  of  mercy ; 
and  as  to  how  we  receive  such  visita¬ 
tions,  that  will  depend  upon  the  spirit 
in  which  we  view  them;  if  we  view 
them  as  chastisements  only,  or  the  ex¬ 
pressions  of  an  arbitrary  will,  we  shall 
quail  under  them  and  be  driven  into 
despair  ;  but  if  we  look  aside  from  the 
chastisement  into  the  purpose  it  was 
meant  to  elucidate  or  enforce,  then  we 
shall  kiss  the  hand  which  lifts  the 
rod. — When  the  sufferings  of  Bildad 
seemed  to  be  intolerable,  the  exclama¬ 
tion  was  :  “Wherefore  are  we  counted 
as  beasts,  and  reputed  vile  in  your 
sight  ?  ”  The  Apostles,  too,  when 
apparently  left  without  regard  either 
from  God  or  man,  betook  themselves 
to  the  same  line  of  reasoning:  “We 
are  made  as  the  filth  of  the  world,  and 
are  the  offscouring  of  all  things  unto 
this  day.” — Parents  should  take  notice 
of  this  law  of  measured  correction. — 
So  should  all  magistrates  and  judges. 
— God  himself  regulates  his  discipline 
by  it,  and  expects  that  every  man  on 
whom  the  rod  falls  will  bethink  himself 
and  turn  and  repent. — Man  should 
never  be  so  treated  as  to  cause  his 
manhood  to  be  ignored. — Contempt 
should  never  be  either  the  reason  or 
the  result  of  any  course  of  punishment. 
— When  penalty  ceases  to  be  connected 
with  hope,  it  ceases  to  be  righteous. — 
Behold  the  goodness  and  the  sove¬ 
reignty  of  the  Lord. — Blessed  are  they 
who  have  accepted  the  chastisement 
and  have  turned  it  into  a  renewal  of 
hope  and  an  assurance  of  ultimate 
purification. 


SELECTED  NOTE. 


“  We  find  that  in  the  guidance  of  the  human  race,  from  the  earliest  ages 
downwards,  more  especially  in  the  lives  of  the  three  patriarchs,  God  prepared 
the  way  by  revelations  for  the  covenant  which  he  made  at  Sinai  with  the 
people  of  Israel.  But  in  these  preparations  we  can  discover  no  sign  of  any 
legendary  and  unhistorical  transference  of  later  circumstances  and  institutions, 
either  Mosaic  or  post-Mosaic,  to  the  patriarchal  age  ;  and  they  are  sufficiently 
justified  by  the  facts  themselves,  since  the  Mosaic  economy  cannot  possibly 
have  been  brought  into  the  world,  like  a  dens  ex  machina ,  without  the 
slightest  previous  preparation.  The  natural  simplicity  of  the  patriarchal 
life,  which  shines  out  in  every  narrative,  is  another  thing  that  produces  on 
every  unprejudiced  reader  the  impression  of  a  genuine  historical  tradition, 
This  tradition,  therefore,  even  though  for  the  most  part  transmitted  from 
generation  to  generation  by  word  of  mouth  alone,  has  every  title  to  credi¬ 
bility,  since  it  was  perpetuated  within  the  patriarchal  family,  “  in  which, 
according  to  divine  command  (Gen.  xviii.  19),  the  manifestations  of  God  in 
the  lives  of  our  fathers  were  handed  down  as  an  heirloom,  and  that  with  all 
the  greater  ease,  in  proportion  to  the  longevity  of  the  patriarchs,  the 
simplicity  of  their  life,  and  the  closeness  of  their  seclusion  from  foreign  and 
discordant  influences.  Such  a  tradition  would  undoubtedly  be  guarded  with 
the  greatest  care.  It  was  the  foundation  of  the  very  existence  of  the  chosen 
family,  the  bond  of  its  unity,  the  mirror  of  its  duties,  the  pledge  of  its  future 
history,  and  therefore  its  dearest  inheritance  ”  ( Delitzsch ).  But  we  are  by 
no  means  to  suppose  that  all  the  accounts  and  incidents  in  the  book  o^ 
Genesis  were  dependent  upon  oral  tradition ;  on  the  contrary,  there  is  much 
which  was  simply  copied  from  written  documents  handed  down  from  the 
earliest  times.  Not  only  the  ancient  genealogies,  which  maybe  distinguished 
at  once  from  the  historical  narratives  by  their  antique  style,  with  its  repeti¬ 
tions  of  almost  .stereotyped  formularies,  and  by  the  peculiar  forms  of  the 
names  which  they  contain,  but  certain  historical  sections — such,  for  example, 
as  the  account  of  the  war  in  Gen.  xiv.,  with  its  superabundance  of  genuine 
and  exact  accounts  of  a  primitive  age,  both  historical  and  geographical,  and 
its  old  words,  which  had  disappeared  from  the  living  language  before  the 
time  of  Moses,  as  well  as  many  others — were  unquestionably  copied  by 
Moses  from  ancient  documents.” 


GENERAL  REVIEW. 


PRAYER. 

Almighty  God,  let  there  be  in  our  hearts  a  light  brighter  than  noonday. 
We  would  that  the  Son  of  man  might  live  within  us  his  life  of  light,  and 
cause  all  our  life  to  burn  with  his  glory,  so  that  men  passing  by  may 
take  knowledge  of  us  that  we  have  lived  with  Jesus,  and  that  we  no 
longer  live  ourselves  but  that  Christ  liveth  in  us.  For  this  miracle  we 
pray.  We  ask  for  no  change  in  thy  great  creation  which  we  cannot 
follow  because  of  our  littleness  and  dimness  of  sight ;  but  we  ask  for  a 
miracle  within,  a  transformation  which  we  can  realise  as  to  its  results, 
though  quite  unable  to  tell  whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it  goeth.  We 
would  be  born  again.  We  would  see  with  new  e}res  and  hear  with 
new  hearing,  and  answer  all  the  appeals  of  thy  providence  with  new 
voices.  We  would  be  startled  by  our  new  selves;  we  would  wonder 
at  the  music  of  the  new  voice;  we  would  be  soothed  by  the  tones  of  the 
new  intercession.  Withhold  not  this  sign  from  us !  Grant  this  token 
from  heaven !  We  shall  know  it  well,  for  there  is  none  like  it,  nor  can 
it  be  simulated  with  perfectness.  We  bless  thee  for  any  love  of  light 
we  have.  Once  we  loved  darkness  rather  than  light.  Thou  hast  brought 
us  out  of  darkness  not  only  into  light,  but  into  a  marvellous  light — like 
light  upon  light,  day  upon  day,  until  shamed  darkness  has  fled  away, 
and  all  heaven  burns  with  glory.  Help  us  evermore  to  walk  as  children 
of  the  day  and  not  of  the  night,  to  speak  the  language  of  light,  and  to 
be  found  always  amongst  those  who  are  not  afraid  or  ashamed  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  We  owe  ourselves  unto  that  Gospel  :  we  were  dead, 
and  are  alive  again ;  we  were  lost,  and  are  found ;  and  now,  in  possession 
of  this  immortal  life,  we  stand  up  before  thee  a  ransomed  host,  our  hearts 
kindling  with  gratitude,  our  lives  prepared  for  sacrifice.  We  will  not 
think  of  the  troubles  thou  hast  caused  us  to  pass  through,  for  the  joy 
is  greater  because  of  the  sorrow.  Men  forget  the  night  in  the  morning; 
the  reaper  forgets  the  seed-time  in  the  golden  harvest,  when  his  barns 
are  too  small,  when  his  fields  are  rich  with  corn  ;  so  do  we  forget  oui 
trouble  in  our  gladness.  The  trouble  was  but  for  a  moment;  the  joy  is 
an  exceeding  great  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  This  thou  hast  taught 
us  by  divine  ministry ;  for  hast  thou  not  taught  thy  servant  to  say  that 
where  sin  abounded  grace  did  much  more  abound?  so  that  even  sinners 
began  to  sing;  their  crime  had  vanished  like  a  black,  windy  night,  and 
their  adoption  had  excited  within  them  the  spirit  of  worship  and  the  angel 
of  music.  We  forget  our  hunger  at  the  feast ;  we  soon  forget  the  cold 
in  which  we  shivered  when  we  stand  at  our  Father’s  board,  and  are  under 
the  light  of  our  Father’s  blessing.  Make  us  rich  with  wisdom,  wealthy 


H 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


in  understanding;  give  us  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  as  our  treasure ; 
then  when  the  drought  cometh  we  shall  not  see  it,  and  when  the  springs 
are  dried  up  there  shall  be  a  secret  fountain  in  the  sanctuary.  We  bless 
thee  for  all  the  way  along  which  thou  hast  led  us — now  in  the  deep 
valleys,  now  full  of  sunshine  and  summer  gladness;  here  an  inviolable 
palace,  there  a  grave-stone  rich  with  memories,  and  yonder  a  bright  place 
where  we  feasted  well,  and  sang  loudly,  and  wished  the  day  were  twice 
as  long.  For  all  the  road  we  thank  thee.  It  has  been  educational;  we 
have  been  receiving  stimulus  by  all  the  progress  we  have  made ;  and 
now  that  we  are  here,  putting  up  another  Sabbath  milestone,  we  will 
say, — Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us,  and  as  for  the  rest  of  the  road, 
we  shall  run  and  not  be  weary,  we  shall  walk  and  not  faint.  Keep  us 
as  the  apple  of  thine  eye.  Receive  special  thanks  and  blessings,  from 
all  who  have  special  thanks  and  acknowledgments  to  make  to  thee — for 
individual  blessings,  for  family  life,  for  business  prosperity,  for  direction, 
guidance,  sympathy,  and  hope.  The  Lord  look  upon  the  country;  it  is 
ours,  and  we  love  it,  and  pray  for  it.  But  all  lands  are  thine.  We  pray 
continually  that  the  glory  of  the  Lord  may  cover  the  whole  earth.  We 
stand  here,  but  we  live  everywhere  :  we  touch  a  point,  but  pray  for  a 
whole  circumference — the  entire  family  of  man.  Liberate  the  slave ;  break 
the  arm  of  the  tyrant ;  cause  sudden  night  to  fall  upon  those  who  are 
in  eager  quest  of  things  forbidden,  and  prosper  every  good  man  and 
upright  cause  and  true  purpose  ;  and  bring  all  into  the  great  millennial 
light,  the  grand  era  of  Christian  reign,  when  the  Lord  shall  be  enthroned, 
and  all  men  shall  know  in  their  hearts  that  the  night  is  gone  and  the 
morning  has  come.  Amen. 

THE  GREAT  QUESTIONS  OP  THE  PENTATEUCH. 

IT  is  instructive  to  notice  the  exact  position  of  the  first  question 
in  the  Bible.  It  has  come  to  be  quite  a  common  and  simple 
thing  for  us  to  ask  questions.  We  think  nothing  of  it.  Some 
men  hardly  think  of  anything.  Many  suppose  that  they  have  a 
perfect  right  to  ask  questions.  There  is  a  morality  in  question¬ 
asking,  and,  therefore,  a  limit.  Persons  will  say,  with  assumed 
or  sincere  feeling,  Surely  we  have  a  right  to  ask  a  question  ? 
The  answer  to  that  innocent  suggestion  is  a  broad  and  emphatic 
denial.  Persons  are  accustomed  to  call  certain  questions  “  harm- 
less.”  There  is  no  harmless  question  that  has  an  unavowed 
motive  behind  it,  or  that  seeks  to  serve  an  ulterior  but 
undiscovered  purpose.  The  most  “harmless”  questions  and 
suggestions  to  be  found  in  the  whole  range  of  the  Bible  are  the 
utterances  of  the  devil !  He  was  perfectly  “  harmless  ”  1  The 
mark  of  interrogation  he  softened  into  a  dying  cadence ;  the  evil 
suggestion  he  conveyed  with  armfuls  of  flowers,  rich  with  colour 


THE  GEE  AT  QUESTIONS  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH.  15 


and  fragrance.  When  the  devil  spoke  to  Jesus  the  words  were 
of  the  most  “harmless”  nature;  when  he  accosted  our  first 
parents  it  was  with  the  civility  of  a  “  Good-morning/’  with  the 
calculated  courtesy  of  a  spirit  that  has  an  object.  But  the  words 
are  without  stain  or  suggestion  of  evil.  At  first  they  were  but 
an  inquiry  ;  and  to  ask  a  question  of  a  human  being  in  a  human 
voice  is  surely  the  very  first  element  of  civility. 

Where  is  the  first  mark  of  interrogation  in  the  Bible  ?  Who 
instituted  that  punctuation  ?  Up  to  that  time  we  had  been 
content  with  comma  and  semicolon  and  period  :  who  introduces 
this  crooked  mark  ?  You  will  find  that  the  first  question  is  in 
the  very  first  book  of  the  Bible: — “And  he  said  unto  the  woman, 
Yea,  hath  God  said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  every  tree  of  the  garden?” 
(Gen.  iii.  1).  Question-asking  has  been  the  ruin  of  the  world. 
Yet  it  is  so  simple  that  every  man  thinks  he  has  a  right 
to  it.  He  reflects  not  that  to  ask  a  question  is  to  put  out 
boundaries,  to  seek  intellectual  enlargement  at  some  possible 
moral  cost.  Question-asking  either  begets  discontentment  or 
fosters  it.  Men  would  be  better  if  they  asked  no  questions, 
except  those  that  obviously  limit  themselves  as  to  their  moral 
purpose,  or  that  indicate  the  urgency  and  sanctity  of  a  prayer. 
One  question  begets  another.  Questions  can  never  be  answered. 
The  mischief  is  that  question-asking  is  considered  a  sign  of 
intellectual  progress ;  within  given  limits  it  may  be  justly  so 
regarded,  but  there  is  a  limitation  to  interrogative  inquiry,  and 
we  should  be  careful  about  the  limit  before  we  put  the  question. 
There  comes  to  be  quite  a  trick  of  question-asking,  which  is 
often  mistaken  for  genius  ;  so  men  become  proud  of  it :  having 
put  one  difficult  question,  and  seen  how  the  interlocutor  is 
utterly  puzzled,  another  is  invented,  because  the  cheapest  of  all 
cleverness  consists  in  asking  questions  and  composedly  waiting 
for  replies  that  can  never  be  given.  By  asking  a  question  you 
may  ruffle  a  mind  :  by  putting  an  inquiry  you  may  poison  a 
life ;  the  question  may  be  harmless  in  words,  but  most  fruitful  of 
baleful  issue  in  the  outworking  of  all  the  processes  which  it 
begins.  Here  is  a  new  form  of  human  conversation.  Up  to  this 
point  we  have  had  next  to  no  conversation  ;  the  man  and  woman 
have  been  created,  but  as  to  wnat  passed  between  them  we 


i6 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE, 


know  next  to  nothing ;  it  is  the  third  party  who  excites  new 
intellectual  ferment  or  disquietude,  or  who  quietly  troubles  the 
life  with  an  inquiry,  and  then  vanishes.  We  may  ask  questions 
of  ourselves,  sharp,  penetrating,  accusatory  questions ;  we  may 
stimulate  ourselves  by  inquiries  keen  as  double-edged  swords ; 
but  there  is  a  question-asking  that  is  profanity,  because  it  touches 
upon  the  impossible  and  vexes  the  mind  by  chafing  against  the 
infinite  limitation,  the  eternal  boundary,  on  which  is  written, 
Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  further.  Let  a  man  encounter 
that  utterance  with  Why  ?  and  he  is  lost.  The  moment  he  says 
Why?  he  has  overleaped  himself;  he  has  passed  the  altar-line; 
he  is  no  longer  safe.  If  he  did  say  Why  ?  he  should  say  it 
timidly,  reverentially,  with  the  awe  and  the  wonder  akin  to 
prayer;  but  he  should  not  put  the  word  as  a  question  to  which 
he  demands  an  answer  before  he  will  believe,  or  adore,  or  serve 
the  Spirit  of  creation.  Nor  is  this  intellectual  timidity  :  it  is 
intellectual  self-restraint,  which  is  the  highest  intellectual  courage; 
it  is  the  very  heroism  of  faith.  It  says,  The  world  is  larger 
than  I  comprehend.  I  have  not  time  to  settle  all  the  questions 
which  vex  even  the  surface  of  life ;  I  must  therefore  live  a  day 
at  a  time,  and  take  one  step  at  a  time,  and  not  turn  over  a  page 
until  I  have  read  the  page  preceding ;  and  thus  I  will  be  led 
and  educated  from  point  to  point.  The  devil  often  comes  into 
the  mind  in  the  form  of  a  question,  and  comes  in  with  some 
civility,  because  of  the  frankness  and  perfect  courtesy  of  the 
inquiry.  He  asks  questions  about  the  books  we  read,  the  prayers 
we  pray,  the  events  we  endeavour  to  construe  into  moral 
significance.  Upon  the  altar,  where  we  have  been  since  child¬ 
hood,  he  simply  writes  with  black  finger  a  mark  of  interrogation ; 

I  not  a  word  is  said,  but  the  query  looks  us  in  the  face  and  makes 
us  afraid,  because  our  hearts  are  greater  than  our  heads,  our 
moral  emotion  and  desire  in  excess  of  our  intellectual  education: 
and  this  must  always  be  so,  because  feeling  is  the  universal 
language,  and  is  not  within  the  sphere  of  debate,  controversy, 
or  intellectual  contention.  Search  into  the  origin  of  question¬ 
asking.  Be  suspicious  of  all  inquiries  that  are  “  absolutely 
harmless.”  Nothing  is  so  easily  disturbed  as  the  angel  of  faith 
— not  disturbed  through  fear ;  but,  because  of  a  sensitiveness 
akin  to  the  sensibility  of  God,  the  fall  of  a  leaf  in  the  night-wind 
is  heard,  a  sound  of  a  distant  step  is  detected.  A  sigh  may  take 


THE  GREAT  QUESTIONS  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH.  17 


an  interrogative  form ;  a  prayer  may  be  but  an  aspect  ol 
scepticism.  Watch  the  question-gate  !  It  is  an  element  in 
the  bad  renown  of  the  devil  that  he  began  the  battle  by  asking 
a  “  harmless  question.” 

Who  put  the  next  inquiry  ?  You  will  find  that  the  next 
question  was  put  by  Jehovah  himself: — “And  the  Lord  God 
called  unto  Adam,  and  said  unto  him,  Where  art  thou  ?  ” — 
(Gen.  iii.  9) — an  extraordinary  inquiry  when  searched  into  ;  an 
impossible  inquiry  from  certain  points  of  view.  Is  Omniscience 
blind  ?  Did  he  who  formed  the  eye  not  see  ?  “  Where  ” 

does  not  always  relate  to  locality ;  it  is  a  wide  word,  full  ot 
solemn  and  tender  suggestion.  A  man  may  be  standing  face 
to  face  with  you,  but  be  separated-  from  you  in  heart  by  the 
diameter  of  creation.  “  Where  art  thou  ?  *  is  not  a  mere 
inquiry  of  position,  or  relating  to  measurable  points,  but  where 
art  thou  morally,  sympathetically  ?  where  art  thou  in  purpose, 
in  supreme  desire,  in  settled  and  chastened  motive  ?  A  man 
may  be  in  the  sanctuary,  and  yet  far  from  the  altar.  This  is 
a  novel  question.  Where  art  thou? — yesterday  at  the  gate 
meeting  me,  waiting  for  me ;  here,  as  it  were,  first,  longing 
for  the  light  to  come  back  again ;  why  this  change  ?  what 
has  occurred?  Who  told  thee  thou  wast  naked?  A  man 
is  not  naked  until  he  is  told  that  he  is  naked.  It  is  the  ear 
that  makes  the  sound  which  is  struck  and  elicited  in  the  infinite 
wilderness.  Now  question-asking  introduces  a  new  element 
into  human  intercourse  and  human  responsibility.  Already 
here  is  a  great  white  throne ;  the  judgment  is  set,  and  the 
question  is  asked  which  will  determine  the  destiny  of  the  world. 
Everything  depends  upon  our  answer  to  this  simple  inquiry. 
Does  human  liberty  begin  here — at  least  in  some  new  phase  ? 
or  is  human  liberty  bounded  by  this  inquiry  ?  Has  not  a  man 
a  right  to  be  either  here  or  there,  outside  the  garden  or  inside, 
on  the  right  hand  or  on  the  left  ?  May  he  not  walk  east  or 
west,  as  he  pleases  ?  Why  this  Voice  that  asks  as  to  locality, 
or  purpose,  or  sympathy,  or  moral  attitude  and  relation  ? 
Temptation  had  not  long  been  in  the  world  when  judgment 
followed  it.  Where  men  will  ask  questions,  or  allow  questions 
to  be  received  into  the  mind,  they  have  begun  a  criticism  which 
VOL.  V. 


2 


i8 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


God  will  continue.  The  question-asking  cannot  be  all  on  one 
side.  God  may  not  ask  for  information  :  he  asks  that  in 
answering  his  inquiry  man  may  accuse  and  confound  himself. 
Remember  how  true  it  is  that  men  realise  certain  positions 
upon  being  told  of  them.  Happily,  this  tells  in  both  ways. 
Say  to  some  poor  soul  who  is  blind,  and  groping,  and  wondering, 

“  Behold,  he  prayeth,” — and  he  may  actually  pray.  You  have 
supplied  him  with  a  form  of  words  which  exactly  expresses 
his  feeling.  He  knew  not  what  he  was  doing ;  he  was  upon  a 
border-line ;  he  seemed  to  see  men  as  trees  walking,  and  to 
see  new  lights  and  gleams  in  the  sky — a  mystic  writing  in 
the  clouds — and  he  felt  his  hands  rising  upwards  as  if  to  seize 
some  nearing  blessing ;  but  he  knew  not  what  he  did  until  an 
angel  said,  “  Behold,  he  prayeth.”  Say  to  some  earnest  student, 
who  ‘dare  not  so  much  as  lift  his  eyes  unto  heaven,  but  who, 
closing  them,  looks  on  high  with  inward  vision  alight  with 
the  tender  gleam  of  hope — say  to  him,  “Thou  art  also  a 
Christian  :  thy  speech  betrayeth  thee,  thy  look  identifies  thee  ; 
thou  art  also  a  follower  of  the  Son  of  man,”  and  the  very 
suggestion  may  be  the  one  spark  that  was  needed  to  cause  his 
courage  to  flame  up  in  testimony  and  holy  avowal  and  witness. 
Yesterday  the  man  knew  not  that  he  was  naked.  Some  one 
must  have  told  him. 

So  we  have  the  first  question  directly  traceable  to  the  enemy,  ' 
and  the  second  question  directly  falling  from  the  lips  of  Jehovah. 

Is  there  any  more  question-asking  ?  Who  asks  another  great 
question  ? — the  angels.  We  may  call  them  angels  :  we  cannot 
tell  who  they  were ;  they  were  mysterious  personalities  ;  they 
were  representative  of  those  mystic  influences  which  are  con¬ 
tinually  playing  around  human  life,  exciting  wonder,  or  fear, 
or  joy — persons  without  names,  influences  without  nameable 
bounds,  ministries  that  allure,  or  deter,  or  sway,  or  repel ;  and 
we  cannot  tell  by  what  authority  the}’'  speak ;  yet  they  work 
miracles,  they  feed  multitudes,  they  quiet  the  sea.  Three  of 
these  mysterious  personalities  are  before  us.  They  ask  a  ques¬ 
tion  in  reply  to  human  unbelief : — “  Is  anything  too  hard  for 
the  Lord  ?  ” — (Gen.  xviii.  14) — the  thing  we  always  forget. 
Having  learned  it  to-day,  to-morrow  we  shall  forget  the  solemn 
lesson.  We  follow  our  ej^es,  and  call  it  faith ;  we  believe 


THE  GEE  AT  QUESTION'S  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH  ig 


mightily  concerning  things  which  are  already  in  our  clutch,  but 
such  belief  is  not  accredited  to  us  as  faith.  What  we  have  to 
consider  in  the  difficult  circumstances  of  life  is — the  Lord’s  power. 
It  is  perfectly  clear  that  we  may  be  in  a  deadlock  ;  the  walls 
are  thick,  the  doors  are  of  iron,  the  key  is  lost,  and  we  cannot 
escape;  but  the  question  is  not  for  us  at  all.  Therein  is  our 
mistake — that  we  suppose  the  circumstances  to  be  bounded 
by  our  personality.  Through  all  the  winds  of  time,  all  the 
currents  of  the  centuries,  there  comes  this  all-exciting  yet 
all-quieting  inquiry — u  Is  anything  too  hard  for  the  Lord  ?  ” 
He  gives,  he  takes  away  ;  he  shakes  the  prison ;  he  conducts 
the  ministries  of  life  :  the  Lord  reigneth.  Christians  will  say 
so  in  theory  :  they  would  dispute  with  any  man  who  offered 
to  deny  it :  but  who  believes  it  ?  Not  only  have  we  come 
to  the  last  loaf,  but  we  have  come  to  the  last  little  piece  of 
the  loaf,  and  we  are  all  an  hungered  ;  that  is  the  time  when  the 
question  is  to  come  to  us  with  the  power  and  sanction  of  a  faith 
— “  Is  anything  too  hard  for  the  Lord  ?  ”  So  to  say,  we 
disappoint  God  of  his  opportunities :  we  will  persist  in  out¬ 
running  him ;  and  thus  he  allows  our  weakness  to  go  first 
in  many  instances.  The  thing  to  be  done  is  to  leave  him  a 
clear  field,  bounded  east,  west,  north,  and  south  by  absolute 
necessity :  there  is  the  divine  sphere ;  but  whilst  we  are 
looking  around  and  exciting  our  poor  ignorance  and  weakness, 
and  persisting  in  doing  something,  God  may  not  work.  He 
often  waits  until  we  are  asleep,  and  takes  our  sleep  as  a  kind 
of  faith.  He  says,  in  effect, — I  must  not  be  too  hard  with 
them  :  they  are  question-askers ;  they  were  early  serpent- 
bitten:  bitten  through  an  interrogation,  and  the  poison  has  been 
awful  in  effect ;  they  cannot  believe  :  I  must  wait  until  they 

t 

are  dead  asleep,  and  at  midnight  I  will  work  some  wonder 
for  them ;  even  then,  when  they  begin  to  rub  their  eyes  in 
a  new  wakefulness,  they  will  ask  questions,  and  wonder  who 
did  it,  as  if  they  were  in  a  dream ;  and  they  will  attribute 
the  whole  incident  to  a  species  of  somnambulism  ; — still,  they 
were  made  yesterday :  they  dwell  in  dust,  in  clay  of  the  earth  ; 
their  breath  is  in  their  nostrils ;  I  must  account  sleep  as  a 
kind  of  faith,  and  unconsciousness  as  a  species  of  trust ;  I 
will  not  forsake  them,  I  will  set  a  miracle  at  their  bedside, 


20 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


so  that  when  they  awake  they  may  begin  to  believe.  Thus 
vve  are  drawn  on  little  by  little,  line  by  line.  Blessed  be  God, 
we  have  come  a  long  way  from  the  first  point  in  many  instances. 
Some  are  now,  in  mid-life,  beginning  to  pray ;  they  say  they 
see  it  now.  It  has  taken  them  full  fifty  3'ears  to  begin  to  see 
men  as  trees  walking,  but  they  now  do  so  begin  ;  and  they  attest 
their  faith  by  a  new  tone  in  the  voice,  by  a  new  aspect  of 
kindness,  by  a  new  gait  in  the  world  as  they  pass  along ;  they 
are  more  upright,  their  very  stature  seems  to  have  increased, 
there  is  a  fearlessness  of  a  subtle  kind  about  their  down¬ 
sitting  and  their  up-rising;  they  say  they  see  it  now!  Will 
they  use  their  sight  to-morrow  under  a  new  set  of  circum¬ 
stances  ?  No;  they  will  be  as  blind  as  ever  then.  But  the  Lord 
knoweth  we  are  dust — a  wind  that  cometh  for  a  little  time, 
and  then  passeth  away — question-askers,  who  mistake  interroga¬ 
tion  for  revelation,  and  a  power  of  scepticism  as  a  sign  of 
intellectual  progress. 

Thus  we  have  had  three  interrogators — the  serpent,  Jehovah, 
angels.  Will  not  man  ask  some  question  little  or  great  ?  Shall 
there  be  no  human  element  in  all  this  interrogation  ?  There 
are  human  questions  in  the  Bible,  as  for  example  : — “  Wilt  thou 
also  destroy  the  righteous  with  the  wicked?” — (Gen.  xviii.  23) 
— the  first  time  we  have  heard  so  solemn  a  question  from 
human  lips.  The  question  is  being  asked  to-da}\  It  does  seem 
as  if  Providence  were  marked  by  indiscriminateness.  A  man 
is  killed  at  the  altar :  if  so,  does  not  that  destroy  the  theory 
of  particular  providence  ?  A  man  has  fallen  down  dead  in 
church.  Impossible  !  if  God  be  so  careful  of  his  loving  ones. 
The  righteous  have  been  thrown  down  in  the  streets,  and  the 
wicked  have  plundered  them,  and  passed  on  and  enjoyed  the 
booty  with  a  fool’s  laugh  ;  virtue  has  been  pinched  with  poverty, 
vice  has  multiplied  its  balance  at  the  usurer’s  : — "  Wilt  thou  also 
destroy  the  righteous  with  the  wicked  ?  ”  It  looks  so.  The  one 
soul  in  the  house  that  prayed  is  dead,  and  they  who  laughed  at 
the  suppliant  live  to  turn  the  memory  into  jesting.  “  Wilt  thou 
destroy  the  righteous  and  not  the  wicked  ?  ”  would  seem  to  be 
a  question  justified  by  some  limited  aspects  of  Providence. 
These  are  mysteries — not  created  by  the  Bible,  but  found  outside 
the  Bible  and  independently  of  the  Bible,  and  are  to  be  adjudged 


THE  GEE  AT  QUESTIONS  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH  21 


and  determined  apart  altogether  from  Christian  faith,  if-' we  will 
have  it  so.  Blessed  be  God,  they  can  be  otherwise  adjudged 
within  the  sanctuary,  by  the  help  of  Christian  faith  ;  and  then 
there  comes  a  light  upon  all  the  gloom,  and  if  the  midnight  is 
not  sunny,  it  is  so  full  of  stars  that  it  cannot  be  called  darkness.  * 

Let  us  now  turn  to  some  questions  which  were  put  directly 
to  Almighty  God  Himself.  Since  question-asking  has  begun, 
who  can  tell  to  what  lengths  it  may  go?  We  have  just  seen 
that  the  devil  put  the  first  question,  and  began  that  dangerous 
method  of  intellectual  development,  and  that  he  is  in  no  wise 
less  guilty  because  the  first  question  was,  from  an  outside  point 
of  view,  perfectly  harmless  as  to  words.  One  of  the  great 
questions  put  by  man  to  God  was  this :  “  Am  I  my  brother’s 
keeper  ?  ”  (Gen.  iv.  9).  There  are  two  tones  in  that  inquiry. 
The  one  is  a  tone  of  amazement.  God’s  investigation  into 
the  destiny  of  Abel  seems  to  have  amazed  with  unutterable 
astonishment  the  murderer  of  his  brother.  The  inquiry  came 
upon  Cain  like  a  revelation.  He  did  not  comprehend  the  fact 
that  society  is  one,  that  humanity  is  one,  that  we  are  responsible 
socially  for  one  another  to  a  very  high  degree — for  one  another’s 
strength,  progress,  honour,  and  specially  responsible  for  one 
another’s  life.  So  the  inquiry  may  be  taken  as  an  expression  of 
astonishment,  meaning — “If  I  had  known  that  I  was  my  brother’s 
keeper  and  had  to  be  called  to  account  because  of  my  brother,  I 
should  have  looked  after  him ;  I  should  have  been  careful  about 
him;  nothing  should  have  been  keener  than  my  criticism  of  my 
own  spirit  and  action  towards  him ;  I  am  wonderstruck ;  I  knew 
not  that  I  was  my  brother’s  keeper.”  But  that  is  not  the 
natural  tone  of  the  inquiry;  that  only  constitutes  one  of  those 
mean  excuses  of  which  inventive  minds  may  take  advantage  in 
the  hour  of  accusation  and  judgment.  We  must  not  practise  the 
unworthy  trick  of  amazement  too  much.  Even  astonishment 
may  cease  to  be  a  miracle.  We  may  be  far  too  much  amazed, 
and  in  astonishment  we  may  fritter  away  any  supposed  claim 
we  had  to  frankness  and  innocence  and  simplicity  of  mind. 
There  is  an  amazement  that  is  self-condemnatory.  What  is  the 
natural  tone  of  the  inquiry  ?  It  is  one  of  peevish  reproach. 
The  question  ought  to  be  asked  with  great  keenness  and 


22 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


poignancy  of  voice.  It  is  the  inquiry  of  an  offending  man  who 
is  conscious  of  guilt  and  afraid  of  punishment,  and  who  yet 
wishes,  with  an  apparent  defiance,  to  keep  back  the  arm  that 
would  smite  him  in  return.  All  sin  leads  to  peevishness  of 
manner.  The  bad  man  is  never  profoundly  serene.  He  knows 
not  the  poetry  or  the  order  of  fully-rounded  composure  and 
contentment — the  fall  of  a  leaf  frightens  him  out  of  his  simulated 
propriety ;  the  closing  of  a  door,  the  opening  of  a  window,  the 
touch  of  a  child,  an  unexpected  question, — these  continually 
alarm  and  extort  from  him  fretful  inquiries,  petulant  remarks, 
impetuous  criticism.  Thus  sin  .riddles  the  character  through 
and  through,  punctuates  it,  makes  it  full  of  holes,  takes  away 
all  its  solidity,  continuity,  strength,  and  nobleness.  A  peevish 
voice  may  mark  the  course  of  sin,  avowed  or  unavowed.  It  is 
singular  how  character  comes  out  in  vocal  tones,  in  menial 
attitudes,  in  exclamations  of  surprise  or  petulance.  That  was 
the  natural  tone  of  Cain’s  inquiry.  He  asks,  “Am  I  my  brother’s 
keeper  ?  ”  in  a  tone  which  means,  “  What  have  I  to  do  with 
him  ?  He  is  capable  of  taking  care  of  himself ;  I  cannot  always 
be  going  about  after  my  brother  ;  he  is  a  man  as  well  as  I  am ; 
he  must  beware  of  all  dangers  and  of  all  surprises,  and  bring 
himself  home  again  after  the  journeying  of  the  day,” — a  speech 
too  independent  to  be  candid,  too  defiant  to  be  religious,  too 
hurriedly  spoken  with  hot  lips  to  express  the  conviction  of  a  solid 
affection,  or  the  desire  of  fraternal  solicitude.  Cain  will  not 
plead  guilty,  nor  will  he  avow  innocence  in  so  many  words  ; 
he  will  avail  himself  of  a  question — a  question  so  large  as  to 
be  an  open  gate  through  which  he  may  escape  the  judgment  of 
God.  Understand  that  this  question  was  put  to  the  Almighty 
as  the  result  of  an  inquiry  of  his  own.  God  made  inquest  for 
blood.  The  first  speech  was  made  by  the  Almighty  himself. 
Instead  of  being  met  frankly  and  lovingly  it  was  met  by  an 
inquiry.  This  is  the  method  of  sin  in  all  time :  it  seeks  to  put 
the  judge  off  the  scent;  it  attempts  to  divert  the  mind,  to  distract 
the  attention,  to  suggest  a  new  possibility  ;  and,  with  some  claim 
of  a  haughty  kind  to  independence,  it  seeks  to  enclose  the  soul 
within  walls  which  must  not  be  violated  even  by  the  Judge  of 
the  whole  earth.  Let  us  read  our  own  character  in  this  kind  of 
questioning.  We  have  lost  the  straight  line :  we  have  ourselves 


\ 


THE  GREAT  QUESTIONS  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH  23 


become  as  crooked  as  the  interrogation  with  which  we  punctuate 
our  utterances.  God  meant  us  to  be  upright,  plain  of  speech, 
real  in  soul  and  heart,  sound  in  motive,  having  nothing  to  hide  ; 
and  we  have  resorted  to  the  cunning  of  a  question,  to  the  evasion 
of  an  “  innocent  ”  inquiry. 

Another  question  put  directly  to  the  Almighty  himself  was 
propounded  by  the  astounded  Abraham  : — “  Shall  not  the  Judge 
of  all  the  earth  do  right?”  (Gen.  xviii.  25.)  This  question 
was  indeed  put  to  three  men  who  visited  him  ;  but  it  is  our  joy 
to  believe  that  one  of  those  personalities  represented  the  Lord 
God  himself.  There  was  a  mystery  about  the  Third  Man  which 
none  could  understand.  The  same  Man  comes  up  again  and 
again  in  Biblical  history,  and  works  wonders  in  the  lives  of  men 
— now  by  dreams,  now  by  mental  visions,  now  by  disturbing 
impressions,  and  anon  by  events  which  man  did  not  begin,  and 
which  man  cannot  perfectly  control.  For  this  reason  we  hesitate 
not  to  say  that  the  question  was  addressed  to  the  Eternal  himself. 
A  wonderful  word  occurs  in  this  question.  Wonderful  words 
are  startled  out  of  men  by  marvellous  ministries  of  a  supernatural 
kind.  Here  is  one  of  -the  grandest  words  in  all  human  speech. 
That  little  word  is  u  right.”  What  is  u  right  ”  ?  Who  can 
define  it  ?  All  men  can  define  it  within,  in  the  court  of 
conscience,  and  receive  the  sanction  of  judgment  and  reason  ;  but 
who  can  define  it  outwardly  and  to  another  so  as  to  bind  that 
other  by  his  definition  ?  We  must  not  escape  from  the  pressure 
of  this  inquiry  by  taking  refuge  in  the  impossibility  of  one  man 
defining  right  for  another.  Every  man  knows  what  right  is. 
When  he  begins  to  quibble  about  the  etymological  definition  he 
begins  to  shew  that  he  knows  himself  to  be  wrong.  This  is  a 
marvellous  fact  in  the  constitution  of  men  who  have  lived  under 
Christianising  influences — and  it  has  often  appeared  in  nations 
to  which  the  name  of  Christ  was  utterly  unknown — that  there 
should  be  a  spirit  in  man  that  knows  right  from  wrong,  that  feels 
it,  that,  how  poor  soever  may  be  the  faculty  and  use  of  speech, 
yet  in  the  soul  there  is  a  sense  that  says,  This  is  right,  that  is 
wrong  ;  Thou  shalt,  thou  shalt  not.  Herein  the  commandments 
have  their  supreme  hold  upon  our  moral  attention.  They  are 
indisputable.  The  moment  we  hear  them,  we  hear,  so  to  say, 
our  mother-tongue.  We  know  it,  arise  to  it,  and  say,  That  is 


24 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


right ;  whatever  may  be  said  upon  the  other  side  is  of  the  nature 
of  a  quibble,  a  fool’s  criticism;  it  is  without  solidity  and  reality, 
it  will  not  bear  the  pressure  of  life  all  round  ;  these  great  com¬ 
mandments  thundered  from  the  mountain  are  right :  we  affirm 
them,  and  confirm  them,  and  answer  back  again,  This  is  right. 
Abraham  knew  from  observation,  from  experience,  that  the  Judge 
of  the  whole  earth  would  do  right.  Some  have  discovered  a 
tone  of  doubt  in  this  inquiry.  There  may  be  such  a  tone,  for 
who  can  altogether  escape  the  plaguing  action  of  doubt  within  the 
mind  ?  He  would  be  a  bold  man  who  would  say  that  there  was 
no  doubt  in  this  inquiry,  who  would  affirm  that  conscience  was 
not  alarmed  in  the  case  of  Abraham.  Yet  there  is  surely  another 
tone  in  it.  Abraham  has  life  enough  behind  him  to  justify 
complete  confidence  in  God.  By  such  life  alone  can  such  con¬ 
fidence  be  established.  We  cannot  have  theoretical  confidences, 
metaphysical  trusts  and  dependencies;  we  are  not  sufficiently 
trained  and  chastened  to  seize  such  filmy  supports  and  insub¬ 
stantial  claims  and  guarantees.  The  time  will  come  when  we 
shall  value  the  spiritual  and  be  able  to  see  it  and  penetrate  to  its 
real  meaning ;  but  now  we  want  fact,  history,  things  that  have 
really  occurred  under  our  eyes,  within  our  touch,  that  we  can 
affirm  beyond  all  disputation,  to  which  we  can  call  witnesses 
whose  word  is  an  oath,  whose  affirmation  is  a  bond.  Thus  has 
God  trained  us,  and  we  ourselves  ought  to  have  a  lifetime  to  fall 
back  upon  in  the  presence  of  all  great  doubts  and  all  startling 
wonders  or  new  phases  of  providence.  When  the  heavens  are 
black,  and  not  a  star  struggles  through  the  gloom ;  when  the  sea  is 
in  infinite  trouble,  and  the  rocks  crack  under  our  feet,  giving  way 
because  of  some  sudden  shock,  we  should  be  able  to  say,  reading 
the  Bible  of  our  life, — This  is  right,  this  will  be  justified  ;  at  present 
all  is  mystery,  but  suddenly  the  Lord  will  come  to  his  temple, 
and  where  there  is  darkness  there  shall  sit  the  morning — the 
queen  of  light — the  very  benediction  of  God.  What  is  our  life¬ 
time  worth  if  we  cannot  talk  so  ?  We  must  not  refer  even  to 
the  Bible  itself,  solely,  for  proofs  of  this ;  we  must  refer  to  our 
own  experience  in  addition.  Our  own  experience  will  confirm 
the  Bible,  will  annotate  it  with  vivid  comment ;  but  to  read  the 
Bible  only  in  the  presence  of  stupendous  events  and  crises  may 
be  but  to  vex  inquiring  minds.  The  Bible  may  come  better 


THE  GEE  AT  QUESTIONS  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH.  25 


afterwards.  Christians  should  be  able  to  sajr,  Fear  not :  be  calm; 
the  God  whose  I  am  and  whom  I  serve  will  bring  this  storm  to 
peace,  will  overrule  these  events,  and  out  of  tumult  will  bring 
solemn  and  heavenly  harmony.  Then  may  come  the  ancient 
testimony,  the  witness  of  patriarchs  and  sages  long  dead ;  but 
all  such  testimony  must  be  accentuated  by  personal  experience, 
must  live  because  of  the  speaker’s  own  energy.  We  cannot  live 
upon  dead  men  :  we  cannot  always  be  quoting  their  words  and 
simply  resting  upon  their  authority ;  we  must  be  able  to  confirm 
it,  and  explain  it,  and  repeat  it  in  modern  tone  and  expression, 
and  so  make  the  Bible  the  newest  of  books,  by  lifting  up  its 
mysteries  into  newness  of  expression  and  reality.  We  have  said 
that  wonderful  words  are  startled  out  of  men.  Probably 
Abraham,  when  he  began  his  question,  did  not  know  how  it 
would  end  ;  but  how  sorrow  makes  men  eloquent ;  how  great 
occasions  change  the  countenances  of  men  and  make  them  shine 
with  light,  and  express  eagerness,  expectancy,  or  devoutness,  as  the 
case  may  be ;  how  little  we  knew  what  we  should  say  until  the 
great  storm  drove  around  us  in  mighty  whirl  and  tempest  and 
rain  !  It  was  then  that  our  heart  found  its  tongue ;  then  that 
our  understanding  became  as  a  flame ;  and  then  that  our  lips 
were  as  a  rock  from  which  streams  of  eloquence  flowed.  Men 
must  be  trained  by  severe  trials  and  great  crises,  and  have  their 
questions  verified  by  the  very  stress  of  the  circumstances  which 
tried  their  faith.  We  learn  a  new  language  in  new  circumstances. 
The  climate  changes  the  customs  of  a  people.  Let  a  change  take 
place  in  the  temperature,  and  that  change  repeats  itself  in  all 
the  action  of  civilisation  :  men  address  themselves  to  the  altered 
temperature  whether  in  an  access  of  heat  or  an  increase  of  cold. 
Civilisation  repeats  the  sun.  Modern  living  human  nature 
practically  recites  what  is  passing  in  great  nature ;  it  may  be 
without  speech,  but  the  reproduction  is  certainly  accomplished 
So  it  is  in  all  the  breadth  of  human  education.  Let  God  burn 
upon  a  man’s  life  like  a  hot  sun,  and  the  man  answers  the 
blistering  heat  by  an  attitude  or  an  exclamation.  Let  the  Lord’s 
cold  smite  man  in  the  face — great  morsels  of  ice,  great  showers 
of  snow — and  man  shudders  back  his  reply  to  the  inclement 
heavens.  Let  a  man’s  life  be  assailed,  and  great  judgments  be 
brought  to  his  knowledge,  and  he  will  ask  questions,  and  introduce 


26 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


into  those  questions  words  of  the  noblest  and  solidest  kind.  Thus 
are  we  trained  ;  thus  are  we  vexed  into  new  progress  ;  thus  are 
we  driven  up  many  a  hill  and  along  many  a  valley.  “  This  is 
the  Lord’s  doing ;  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes !  ” 

One  more  question  will  satisfy  our  inquiry  as  to  the  kind 
of  interrogation  that  may  be  addressed  directly  to  the  Almighty. 
Said  Moses :  When  I  go  to  Egypt  and  speak  to  the  children 
of  Israel,  they  will  say  to  me,  Who  sent  thee  ?  what  is  his 
name?  What  shall  I  say?  (Exod.  iii.  13).  That  is  a  grand 
historical  picture ! — a  man  about  to  be  sent,  but  who  will 
not  go  until  he  has  his  credentials :  a  strong  man  conscious 
of  weakness,  not  unwilling  to  plead  infirmitjq  somewhat  inven¬ 
tive,  it  may  be,  in  the  multiplication  of  excuses  ;  but  all  this 
must  be  made  up  by  a  name,  a  password,  a  secret  masonry: — 
How  shall  I  shake  .hands  with  the  strangers  ?  What  shall  I 
give  them  to  show  that  I  am  no  common  man  or  mere  adven¬ 
turer  ?  When  they  ask  me  quietly,  What  is  his  name  ?  what 
shall  I  say  ?  I  could  invent  names,  but  must  not ;  give  me 
a  name  they  will  know  at  once  :  if  they  have  never  heard 
it  before,  yet  it  shall  be  so  grand,  rich,  complete,  that  the 
moment  they  hear  it  they  will  say — Never  did  man  invent 
that  appellation.  What  is  thy  name  ?  We  know  things  and 
persons  by  names.  Names  may  be  only  momentary  conveni¬ 
ences  ;  still,  they  are  conveniences,  and  cannot  be  dispensed 
with.  Entrust  _  me  with  thy  name !  And  what  a  name  it 
was  ! — “  I  AM  THAT  I  AM  !  ”  Say  that  to  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  they  will  hear  in  it  the  boom  of  a  sea  over  which 
they  have  sailed ;  whisper  that  name  to  them— -if  such  a  name 
will  accommodate  itself  to  a  whisper — and  the  host  will  answer, 
“  That  is  verily  the  name  of  our  God.”  We  are  at  liberty 
to  ask  such  questions  as  Moses.  They  must  be  marked  b}' 
reverence ;  we  must  mean  what  we  say.  There  is  a  flippant 
interrogation  that  gets  no  reply.  Sometimes  we  ask  questions 
without  putting  them  into  an  interrogative  form.  A  question 
may  be  suggested  as  well  as  plainly  put.  A  prayer  may  be 
a  great  inquiry  without  the  mark  of  interrogation  ever  occurring 
in  the  solemn  speech.  Man  can  be  in  an  attitude  of  groping, 
lighting  a  candle,  and  sweeping  the  house  diligently  for  a  piece 


THE  GREAT  QUESTIONS  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH.  27 


that  is  lost.  Man  can  be  uttering  words,  and  leaving  God  to 
punctuate  them.  The  heart  can  hurry  through  a  speech  which 
may  be  incoherent  to  ears  that  cannot  hear  the  inner  music,  but 
which  is  perfectly  continuous  and  complete  to  the  ear  of 
listening  heaven.  Yet  are  we  forbidden  to  ask  questions  ? 
That  depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  inquiry,  as  we  have  just 
seen.  Men  may  ask  certain  questions  in  a  certain  way,  if  they 
do  not  hinder  divine  progress.  Never  make  a  question  an 
excuse.  Never  turn  a  question  into  a  mystery,  and  say,  This 
is  the  end,  and  advance  is  therefore  impossible.  There  are 
questions  which  the  heart  will  dictate,  and  which  the  judgment 
will  know  to  be  right.  He  is  evasive  in  mind,  he  is  ignoble 
in  temper,  who  supposes  that  he  does  not  know  when  he  is 
asking  a  right  question.  Do  not  attempt  to  puzzle  God,  to 
multiply  mysteries,  to  invent  or  create  them.  If  we  ask  God  for 
a  clean  heart  and  a  right  spirit,  we  know  we  are  asking  a  question 
that  is  proper,  and  that  God  waits  to  answer.  Beware  of  merely 
intellectual  inventiveness  in  the  sanctuary.  Beware  of  that  busy 
faculty  which  can  always  excite  doubt  and  disturb  the  mind,  and 
lead  away  the  attention,  or  fasten  it  upon  false  issues.  There  is 
a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth  him 
understanding ;  and  let  no  soul  attempt  to  do  itself  the  infinite 
dishonour  of  putting  questions  which  it  does  not  want  to  have 
answered,  or  of  raising  inquiries  the  reply  to  which  it  can  never 
understand.  There  is  enough  to  be  done.  Life  is  too  solemn, 
because  too  short,  to  be  frittered  away  in  vain  interrogation.  If 
we  search  the  Scriptures,  and  ask  the  Holy  Spirit  to  be  with  us, 
ruling  our  temper  into  quietude,  and  creating  within  us  a  spirit 
of  docility,  we  shall  understand  as  we  read  :  light  will  come  up 
out  of  the  Word — down  upon  the  Word.  In  God’s  light  we  shall 
see  light,  and  our  one  question  will  be — “  Lord,  what  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do  ?  ” 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  thou  hast  given  a  \vondei*ful  setting  to  our  life.  Even 
the  poorest  man  may  behold  thy  heavens  and  look  upon  all  the  host 
thereof,  and  wonder  concerning  their  meaning  and  their  destin}^.  Thou 
hast  filled  the  earth  with  beauty  and  the  air  with  music,  so  that  we  stand 
in  the  midst  of  revelation,  and  if  we  be  not  blind  and  deaf  we  must 
hear  messages  from  God.  We  bless  thee  for  all  this  setting  of  our  life  * 
it  is  helpful.  We  hear  speech  from  many  an  unexpected  quarter;  we 
listen,  and,  lo,  it  is  as  if  angels  sung  to  us  in  the  dark  night-time;  and 
even  in  the  mighty  wind  there  is  a  tone  of  tenderness,  which  means 
health  and  purity,  renewed  life  and  invigorated  hope.  Help  us  to  read 
the  symbols,  to  understand  somewhat  of  the  meaning  of  the  types;  then 
shall  our  mind  be  stored  with  sacred  wisdom,  and  our  heart  shall  be 
as  an  instrument  of  music  on  which  divine  fingers  shall  discourse.  Enable 
us  to  see  beyond  nature  to  nature’s  God ;  give  us  that  penetrating  look 
which  sees  beyond  the  veil  of  the  visible  and  beholds  somewhat  of  the 
mystery  and  glory  of  that  which  is  unseen.  Thus  may  we  be  drawn 
upward  by  a  gracious  compulsion;  thus  may  we  be  unwilling  to  tarry 
in  a  place  too  small  for  us.  May  we  accept  the  hospitality  of  God,  and 
move  upward  to  the  larger,  brighter  spaces,  the  wider  liberties,  the 
service  without  weariness,  the  worship  without  tedium.  That  we  have 
such  thoughts  as  these  is  of  thy  goodness ;  their  very  presence  in  the 
soul  shows  that  we  are  not  forsaken  of  Heaven ;  we  are  still  in  the  land 
of  the  living  and  in  the  sphere  of  religious  hope.  Touch  us  as  thou 
wilt  and  in  what  measure  thou  wilt,  but  let  thy  touch  bring  us  nearer 
to  thyself.  May  we  be  among  those  who  grow  upward  and  heavenward, 
from  beholding  external  and  natural  beauties  to  beholding  the  mystic 
splendours  of  the  inner  heavens;  and  not  of  those  who  having  looked 
upon  thine  handiwork  are  by  reason  of  manifold  and  aggravated  sin 
condemned  to  outer  darkness.  Let  our  lives  continue  to  be  precious 
to  thee.  Still  think  it  worth  thy  while  to  water  the  earth  and  to  send 
the  warmth  of  the  sun  upon  its  smoking  soil;  still  care  for  us,  and 
send  the  seed-time  and  the  summer  and  the  harvest  and  the  restful 
and  nourishing  winter  with  its  blessed  sleep ;  and  thus  help  us  by 
outward  ministries,  by  natural  appeals,  by  sustenance  for  the  body  and 
suggestions  for  the  mind,  to  attain  to  higher  heights  and  worship 
at  the  highest  altar ;  and  through  all  the  way  of  the  world,  and  sin 
and  danger  and  death,  may  we  be  led  to  the  Cross — the  great  Cross 
of  sacrifice,  the  mj'stery  of  redemption,  the  problem  of  atonement  by 
the  shedding  of  blood.  Lead  us  into  this  mystery  it  appals  us  it 


THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE . 


29 


affrights  us,  and  then  it  grows  upon  our  attention  and  confidence  and 
love,  until  we  are  enabled  to  say  to  the  dying  Christ, — my  Lord  and 
my  God !  Amen. 


THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE. 

AVING  studied  the  Pentateuch  in  detail,  beginning  at  the 


X  X  beginning  and  concluding  with  the  final  word,  it  may  be 
profitable  to  inquire  somewhat  into  the  teaching  of  the  books 
in  their  unity.  The  five  books  of  Moses — often  called  the 
Pentateuch — are  placed  in  our  hands,  and  if  we  have  read 
them  through  we  are  at  liberty  to  inquire  into  the  meaning  of 
the  Pentateuch  as  a  whole :  to  ask  what  impression  it  has  made 
upon  the  mind ;  how  far  it  has  established  any  claim  to  be 
considered  an  inspired  book ;  what  are  its  supreme  qualities 
and  characteristics — qualities  and  characteristics  which  separate 
it  from  all  other  books  and  give  it  a  unique  place  in  the 
library  of  the  world. 

We  cannot  have  run  through  the  Pentateuch  even  hurriedly 
without  having  been  in  some  measure  struck  by  the  simplicity 
of  its  theology.  The  Pentateuch  is  full  of  God.  The  Deity  over¬ 
flows  the  wondrous  writing.  God  is  so  near  his  creatures  :  he 
speaks  to  them,  as  it  were,  face  to  face ;  he  is  familiar  with  them 
though  always  retaining  the  augustness  of  his  Deity,  and  never 
relaxing  the  majesty  proper  to  his  being  and  duration;  he  comes 
down  to  earth,  walks  upon  it,  talks  to  men,  tells  them  what  his 
will  is,  elects  them  to  service,  enriches  them  with  promises, 
points  out  their  respective  destinies.  In  the  Pentateuch  God  is 
a  God  nigh  at  hand,  and  not  afar  off.  The  Pentateuch  is  a  kind 
of  nursery  book  :  everything  is  written  in  such  large  letters  ;  the 
pictures  are  innumerable,  most  vividly  coloured,  appealing  to  the 
eye  with  very  broad  claims  to  attention.  Everything  is  upon  a 
great  scale,  most  vivid,  most  graphic ;  it  is  impossible  to  pass  by 
wdthout  being  arrested  by  noble  figures,  by  marked  events,  by 
startling  claims  and  appeals.  We  say  sometimes  that  there  are 
no  children  in  the  Pentateuch.  Let  us  consider  the  thought  and 
see  whether  in  reality  there  were  any  thing  but  children  in  the 
five  books  of  Moses.  What  else  could  there  be?  Adam  was  a 
child.  The  world  was  begun  with  a  child-man;  not  with  an 


30 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


infant,  so  far  as  the  beginning  of  biblical  history  enables  us  to 
judge.  When  man  comes  upon  the  page,  he  comes  on  in  full 
stature,  with  the  breath  of  God  living  in  him,  and  so  affecting  his 
features  as  to  make  them  shine  with  the  subdued  majesty  of  God. 
The  book  is  adapted  to  the  earliest  ages  of  manhood.  We  repeat, 
it  is  a  species  of  nursery-book,  full  of  capitals,  full  of  pictures, 
eventful,  short  in  its  statements,  striking  in  its  representations. 
Yet  there  is  nothing  shallow  in  all  the  matchless  simplicity.  It 
takes  the  sun  in  heaven  and  all  the  chemistry  of  earth  to  grow 
the  tiniest  flower  that  lifts  up  its  head  in  the  green  mead. 
Nothing  is  thrown  in  as  make-weight  and  as  of  no  consideration. 
Were  there  only  one  little  flower  promised  to  grow  upon  the 
earth  to  the  end  of  time,  that  very  promise  would  involve  the 
maintenance  of  the  astronomy  of  the  universe  as  we  know  it; 
so  when  even  simplicity  seems  to  be  simplest  in  the  striking 
records  of  Moses,  the  simplicity  is  the.  last  expression  of  eternal 
power,  eternal  wisdom,  eternal  beneficence.  It  required  God  to 
take  hold  of  the  historian’s  hand  when  he  wrote  the  very  first 
verse  in  Genesis.  No  human  fingers  unaided  by  divine  energy 
ever  penned  that  most  startling  and  bewildering  of  all  sentences. 
Nor  is  mystery  wanting  in  connection  with  simplicity.  The 
word  “  God  ”  assumes  plural  forms.  It  creates  a  kind  of  grammar 
all  its  own.  Who  can  number  the  plural  <<LUS”  as  we  find  it  in 
the  expression,  “  Let  us  make  man  ”  ?  The  word  will  stand  for 
all  energies ;  it  will  stand  for  all  the  creatures  ever  created 
through  all  the  endless  ages  of  eternal  duration.  An  angel  is 
promised — the  Angel- of  the  Covenant — the  angel  of  the  Lord. 
Anonymous  ministries  are  operating  all  through  and  through  the 
book.  Mystery  shadows  simplicity.  Great  marvels  are  closely 
related  to  simple  events.  So  the  simplicity  is  not  shallowness. 
The  darkness  is  not  without  atmosphere,  mediation,  interception 
between  the  essential  Deity  and  the  creature  of  a  day,  unable  to 
bear  upon  his  eyeballs  the  unclouded  splendour  of  essential  flame. 

Nor  can  we  read  the  Pentateuch  as  a  whole  without  being 
struck  by  the  very  close  way  in  which  it  reproduces  human 
nature  as  we  know  it.  The  Man  of  the  Pentateuch  stands  next 
in  mystery  to  its  God.  He  is  a  wondrous  man.  He  comes  upon 
us  suddenly ;  he  comes  straight  from  the  hand  of  God.  Yet  his 


THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE. 


31 


coming  is  not  without  mystery.  He  was  made  of  “  the  dust  of 
the  ground/’  But  what  is  the  dust  of  the  ground?  We  read 
that  expression  as  if  we  understood  it — as  if  any  child  could  give 
a  sufficient  reply.  How  was  the  dust  made  ?  Of  what  is  it 
compounded  ?  Who  can  read  the  stony  and  mouldering  record  ? 
What  is  dust  ?  Is  it  suspended  life  ?  Is  it  a  new  mode  of 
being  ?  When  did  it  begin  ?  Is  it  a  symbolical  or  a  literal  term  ? 
The  dust  carries  in  it  all  the  ages  preceding.  So  we  must  not 
narrow  or  vulgarise  the  words  by  imagining  that  any  one  knows 
the  meaning  of  the  expression,  “  dust  of  the  ground.”  When  God 
took  of  that  dust,  he  took  of  his  own  handiwork  :  he  made  the 
dust  before  he  made  the  man.  We  are  not  to  suppose  that  the 
dust  is  something  wholly  independent  of  God — something  which 
God  himself  found  in  the  world  and  made  use  of.  The  dust  is 
his  ;  the  dust  has  a  theology  ;  the  dust  has  a  magnificent  history. 
But  we  begin  with  the  historian  ;  and  though  we  begin  with  the 
historian,  we  are  not  excluded  from  the  society  and  inspiration 
of  the  poet.  We  cannot  have  even  the  dust  of  the  ground 
treated  with  contempt;  the  augustness  of  its  history  must  be 
acknowledged  by, every  diligent  student.  But  the  “Man  ”  stands 
before  us  historically  upright,  physically  complete,  responsible  at 
once,  beginning  the  very  next  day  to  obey  or  disobey.  How  did 
he  act  ?  His  reproduction  of  human  nature  as  we  know  it  is 
perfect  in  its  likeness.  Man  soon  wanted  more.  He  was  told  by 
an  insidious  and  seductive  voice  that  if  he  would  adopt  a  certain 
course  he  would  become  u  as  God.”  Who  ever  resisted  that 
temptation  ?  It  is  the  one  temptation  that  besieges  human  life  as 
an  army  might  besiege  a  citadel.  Examine  life,  and  say  if  this 
be  not  the  religious  expression  of  the  temptation  that  is  supreme. 
It  means :  you  shall  have  more,  you  shall  have  pleasure,  you 
shall  have  delights  heaped  up  ;  you  shall  advance  :  make  progress 
your  motto,  write  it  upon  your  life-banner,  and  be  not  ashamed 
of  the  legend.  This  is  what  human  nature  is  doing  to-day.  No 
sooner  did  humanity  become  social  and  assume  family  forms  than 
family  feuds  succeeded.  Cain  murdered  Abel — and  Cain  will 
murder  Abel  unto  the  end  of  time.  It  will  require  a  redeeming 
rather  than  a  creating  God  to  stop  the  murder  of  Abel.  Then 
came  social  deceptions :  one  man  overreaching  another ;  man 
telling  lies  to  man,  smiling  with  the  lips,  cursing  with  the  heart; 


32 


TILE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


offering  friendship  with  the  hand,  vowing  vengeance  in  a  spirit 
dumb  with  determination.  Is  this  human  nature  as  we  know  it  ? 
We  speak  of  old  records,  and  primitive  man,  and  pre-historic 
times,  and  times  incalculably  ancient ; — where  is  all  this 
antiquity  ?  That  it  exists  we  cannot  doubt ;  and  we  doubt  it 
the  less  that  we  ourselves  repeat  and  confirm  it  in  every  beating 
pulse  we  tell.  So  in  the  Pentateuch  we  have  a  marvellous 
theology — simple,  profound,  graphic,  yet  mystic;  and  in  the 
Pentateuch  we  have  human  nature  in  its  broadest  lines  and 
aspects,  with  a  singular  and  incalculable  origin — an  origin  so 
described  that  science  can  never  either  overtake  it  or  outwit  it : 
the  terms  that  are  there  are  awaiting  final  interpretation ;  and 
human  life — individual,  social,  national — discloses  itself  before  us 
as  if  reproducing  our  own  experiences.  Sometimes  men  say, 
on  hearing  startling  statements, — Where  did  we  hear  these 
words  before  ?  Did  we  dream  them  ?  Is  this  the  second  time 
of  hearing  such  terms  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  ?  So  when 
we  read  the  Pentateuch  we  seem  to  read  our  own  biography. 
We  take  out  proper  names,  we  put  in  our  own  appellations,  and 
still  the  history  rolls  on  as  if  we  were  perfectly  familiar  with  it 
and  could  ourselves  annotate  it  with  facts  which  have  occurred 
within  our  own  experience.  This,  as  we  have  seen  again  and 
again  is  the  great  hold  which  the  Bible  gets  upon  human  atten¬ 
tion  and  confidence.  It  knows  man  ;  it  explains  man  to  himself : 
man  brings  the  riddle,  the  Bible  supplies  the  answer.  We  are 
not  following  in  the  lines  of  an  unknown  human  nature — a 
nature  that  lived  in  other  time  and  in  other  space,  and  of  which 
we  know  nothing  except  by  revelation ;  we  know  the  man  so 
well  that  what  the  book  says  of  God  would  be  made  just  as 
clear  and  positive  could  we  follow  that  in}7stery  to  the  inner 
places  now  invisible. 

We  cannot  peruse  the  Pentateuch  as  a  whole  without  remark¬ 
ing  the  fearlessness  with  which  it  sets  forth  the  otherwise 
incredible  circumstance  of  divine  disappointment.  Can  disap¬ 
pointment  follow  Omniscience  ?  Can  God  be  surprised  ?  Did  he 
not  see  the  end  from  the  beginning  ?  Is  not  the  whole  plan,  in 
all  its  development  and  purpose,  the  outcome  of  his  own  mind  ? 
in  a  sense,  the  answer  must  be — Certainly,  unquestionably.  All 


THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE. 


33 


things  express  in  some  way  the  intent  of  the  moral  will,  or  the 
regal  will :  God  will  have  it  so  for  a  time,  or  he  will  have  it  so 
for  ever,  either  in  the  form  of  moral  purpose  or  of  a  sovereign 
fiat.  All  things  must  be  traced  to  God.  “Can  there  be  evil  in 
a  city,  and  the  Lord  have  not  done  it  ?  ”  Can  there  be  a  hell 
in  the  universe,  and  God  not  have  dug  it  ?  Can  there  be  any 
devil  in  creation  who  cannot  trace  his  origin  to  God  ?  “  The 

Lord  reigneth.”  We  must  take  this  larger  view,  for  by  it  alone 
are  certain  moral  mysteries  lifted  into  adequate  light,  that  they 
may  receive  at  least  tips  of  illumination,  glints  of  glory,  which 
help  us  to  believe  that  the  full  enlightenment  will  come  by-and-by. 
God  was  disappointed  : — “  It  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had  made 
man  on  the  earth.”  He  wept  over  the  Jerusalem  of  the  ancient 
world,  as  his  Son  wept  over  another  Jerusalem.  The  speech 
of  the  heavenly  Father  was,  in  effect : — “O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, 

.  .  .  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  as 
a  hen  doth  gather  her  brood  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !  ” 
How  otherwise  could  he  have  sent  a  flood  upon  the  earth  ? 
Make  of  the  flood  what  we  may — universal,  partial,  literal,, 
symbolic — there  remains  the  fact  of  a  flood — a  display  of 
judgment,  in  other  words,  a  display  of  disappointment  :  because 
whenever  God  punishes  he  must  have  been  disappointed  before 
he  could  inflict  the  penalty.  He  made  the  world  for  virtue, 
uprightness,  innocence,  holiness ;  so  when  criminal  blackness 
came  before  him  he  must  have  felt  the  pang  of  disappointment, 
which  he  has  never  failed  to  express  : — “  Hear,  O  heavens,  and 
give  ear,  O  earth  :  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken,  I  have  nourished 
and  brought  up  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me.” 
How  otherwise  could  he  have  sent  fire  upon  cities  splendidly 
situated,  well-watered,  in  fruitful  plains,  beautiful  for  situation  ? 
Why  the  fire  ?  Why  the  brimstone  ?  Why  these  smoking, 
smouldering  heaps  ?  The  answer  is — Sin,  apostasy,  wickedness, 
disobedience ;  and  could  God  look  upon  these  forms  or  expres¬ 
sions  of  evil  without  corresponding  disappointment  ?  The  words, 
“It  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had  made  man,”  express  a  real 
not  a  dramatic  emotion.  The  disappointment  continues.  There 
is  nothing  surprising  in  flood  and  fire  being  sent  down  in 
judgment ;  the  surprise  is  that  they  are  withheld  to-day.  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah  could  not  have  been  so  wicked  as  the  cities  of  the 


VOL.  v. 


3 


34 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


present  time  can  be.  Modern  cities  have  larger  opportunities, 
broader  civilisations,  multiplied  resources;  and  the  devil  never 
alters,  never  repents,  never  prays  :  he  will  fight  out  the  battle  so 
long  as  one  glint  of  light  remains  in  the  western  sky ;  he  will  not 
die  unless  by  compulsion.  The  cities  of  to-day  are  more  wicked 
than  the  cities  of  any  other  time.  The  wickedness  is  more  varied 
in  form  ;  it  is  often  perpetrated  with  greater  boldness ;  it  is  turned 
to  commercial  account.  It  so  grows  upon  the  wicked  man  him¬ 
self  that  he  loses  all  feeling,  all  sense  of  dignity,  all  consciousness 
of  shame;  nothing  is  sacred  to  him  :  the  grave  has  no  protec¬ 
tion  from  his  violation ;  childhood  is  not  too  3'oung  for  his 
defilement,  nothing  too  fair  to  be  smitten  and  wrecked  by  his 
violent  hand.  We  know  this  as  matter  of  fact,  not  as  matter  of 
poetry;  and  it  is  matter  of  fact  not  outside  us  but  within  us. 
Other  men  do  the  deeds  of  which  we  conceive  the  thoughts  : 
other  men  may  be  but  the  executioners,  whilst  all  men  may  be 
the  thinkers  and  dreamers.  Herein  divine  judgment  alone  can 
be  right.  He  who  made  us  must  judge  us.  We  must  not 
suppose  that  all  things  of  an  evil  kind  are  open  and  known  and 
avowed;  nor  must  any  man  attempt  to  sit  in  judgment  beyond 
a  given  point.  There  is  a  line  within  which  society  may  judge, 

. ought  to  judge,  and  must  judge;  but  there  is  a  further  line 
towards  which  human  judgment  cannot  even  move:  God  only 
can  be  Judge  there.  When  the  prophet  was  ordered  to  dig  down 
he  found  a  wall  going  very  deeply  into  the  ground;  he  was  told 
to  dig  more  deeply  still :  he  dug,  and  at  length  came  to  a  door ; 
he  was  told  to  open  the  door  and  pass  in ;  and  there,  under  the 
roots  of  things,  under  the  foundations  of  cities,  he  found  what  is 
called  the  chamber  of  imagery,  and  there  in  that  hidden  place  he 
saw  the  symbols  of  indescribable  dissolution.  It  is  so  with  the 
human  mind.  There  is  an  aspect  in  which  all  is  public  and  open 
and  about  which  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  there  is  a  chamber 
of  imagery- — a  mind  with  painted  walls,  an  inner  life  full  of 
unholy  symbolism,  and  crowded  with  secret  worship — a  hole 
within  a  hole,  concerning  which  God  must  be  Judge. 

So  then,  we  have  a  simple  theology,  a  human  nature  which  we 
can  recognise,  and  a  divine  government  that  is  stung  by  dis¬ 
appointment;  these  things  we  have  in  the  book  called  the 
Pentateuch,  or,  in  other  words,  the  five  books  of  Moses.  We 


THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE. 


35 


ought  to  beware  lest  in  discussing  the  comparatively  trivial 
question — Who  wrote  the  Pentateuch  ?  that  we  miss  the 
purpose  of  the  fivefold  writing.  Comparatively  unimportant — 
what,  then,  is  the  supremely  important  point  ?  Evidently  it  is 
to  know  what  is  written  rather  than  who  wrote  it.  That  there 
may  have  been  more  hands  than  one  in  the  composition  of  the 
Pentateuch  is  perfectly  possible;  in  some  few  instances  indeed, 
it  cannot  be  otherwise  than  real  and  indisputable.  That  the 
books  of  the  Pentateuch  might  be  differently  arranged  is  not 
beyond  the  bounds  of  possibility.  That  the  supposed  dates  of 
the  five  books  might  be  modified  or  Readjusted  is  also  within  the 
limits  of  possibility.  But  we  are  not  called  to  the  consideration 
of  such  questions.  The  one  inquiry  we  have  to  make  is — What 
is  the  moral  purpose  of  the  book  ?  What  is  its  spiritual  tone  ? 
What  is  its  religious  claim  ?  What  are  its  great  theological  and 
anthropological  doctrines  ?  What  is  its  God,  and  what  is  its 
man  ?  Mythology  presents  us  with  innumerable  impossibilities  : 
we  know  them  to  exceed  all  likelihood  and  to  offend  every  con¬ 
ception  of  order  and  probability ;  but  the  Pentateuch  presents  us 
with  nothing  that  is  improbable,  so  far  as  our  own  experience 
extends.  We  can  comprehend  most  of  it,  and  where  we  do  touch 
it  we  feel  how  firm  is  the  association  between  the  ancient  writing 
and  the  modern  experience.  Coming  upon  antiquities  in  this 
fashion,  corroborating  them  one  after  another,  we  feel  that  where 
one  or  two  may  seem  to  fall  out  of  the  line  of  corroboration  in 
other  instances  the  coincidence  is  so  striking  and  so  vital  that  we 
need  have  no  fear  as  to  an  explanation  coming  by-and-b}^  even 
in  reference  to  mysteries  at  present  hidden  in  sevenfold  darkness. 
We  must  stand  by  Moses.  Our  study  of  his  character  has  given 
us  profound  confidence  in  his  spirit  and  in  his  purpose.  He  has 
suffered  for  his  convictions.  What  critic  ever  suffered  for  his 
sneers  ?  What  annotator  of  to-day  ever  lost  position  or 
opportunity  of  advancement  of  so  broad  a  kind  as  that  which 
Moses  lost  when  he  11  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh’s 
daughter ;  choosing  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of 
God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  ?  ”  When 
men  confirm  their  theology  by  acts  of  sacrifice  so  plain,  clear,  and 
complete,  they  deserve  consideration  ;  they  appeal,  though  un¬ 
consciously,  to  the  reverence  of  mankind.  In  what  sense,  then 


36 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


is  the  Pentateuch  old  ?  Only  in  a  temporal  sense.  There  is 
nothing  that  is  old  in  the  Pentateuch  if  we  regard  it  spiritually, 
symbolically,  alphabetically.  The  root  is  not  old  so  long  as  there 
is  fruit  on  the  uppermost  branches.  The  New  Testament  is  the  out¬ 
come  of  the  Old  :  the  Gospels  are  the  Pentateuch  in  full  bloom — 
in  all  its  spiritual  culmination  and  sublimest  meaning.  Read  the 
Pentateuch  thus,  straight  through,  without  asking  minor  questions, 
without  pausing  intermediately;  read  it  as  a  whole,  from  end 

to  end,  and  then  ask  what  are  the  impressions  it  makes  upon  the 

% 

mind  ;  and  first  will  be  the  impression  that  God  is  near,  direct  in 
his  communication,  interested  in  every  action,  holding  every  man 
of  value;  that  God  is  Critic  of  all  time,  Judge  of  all  action,  never 
afraid  after  having  blessed  the  world  to  drown  it,  to  burn  it,  for 
human  wickedness  may  be  greater  than  divine  blessing.  The 
impression  made  upon  the  mind  will  be  that  human  nature  is  a 
mystery,  not  to  be  judged  here  and  now,  not  to  be  summed  up 
and  valued  within  given  and  measurable  limits,  but  to  be  regarded 
as  a  continual  mystery,  a  profound  and  insoluble  problem, 
awaiting  the  judgment  of  God.  Nor  can  we  read  the  Pentateuch 
without  being  struck  with  the  fact  that  though  hand  join  in  hand 
the  wicked  shall  not  go  unpunished.  u  Be  sure  your  sin  will 
find  you  out.”  There  is  more  water  in  the  clouds,  there  is 
more  fire  in  the  throne  of  God  ;  and  God  will  not  hesitate  to 
drown  the  world  or  to  burn  the  universe,  if  so  be  that  man’s  sin 
exceed  God’s  grace. 

We  cannot  read  the  Pentateuch  as  a  whole  without  being 
struck  with  the  way  in  which  it  all  grows  up  into  the  fortune  of 
one  man.  At  first  there  is  quite  a  number  of  men.  The  number 
grows  and  multiplies  exceedingly,  so  that  the  whole  earth  seems 
to  be  covered  with  an  active  population.  Page  by  page  we  turn 
over  the  record,  and  one  name  comes  up  above  another;  then 
we  come  to  a  period  when  a  special  name  takes  precedence  and 
stands  royally  aloft  above  all  other  names,  as  if  the  whole  history 
had  been  evolved  and  consolidated  for  the  manifestation  of  that 
one  name.  The  one  name  is  that  of  Moses.  Plaving  concluded 
the  Pentateuch,  the  mind  seems  to  have  before  it  but  that 
resplendent  name.  It  is  the  name  of  ruler,  leader,  shepherd, 
and  friend  of  unnumbered  hosts.  The  name  is  a  symbol  of 


THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE. 


37 


strength,  light,  leading,  sustenance  of  a  spiritual  and  moral  kind. 
True  leadership  seems  to  begin  with  Moses.  He  is  a  kind  of 
father-mother,  a  shepherd-friend,  a  legislator  with  a  Gospel  voice, 
— a  man  accustomed  to  interpret  thunders  and  lightnings,  and  to 
pluck  from  the  midst  of  the  tempest  the  still  small  Voice  of 
divine  solicitude  and  divine  commandment,  and  to  interpret  that 
Voice  to  all  the  host  in  a  language  which  they  can  understand. 
Is  not  this  like  all  human  history  ?  Are  there  not  even  in  the 
annals  of  common  civilisation  names  that  gather  up  into  them¬ 
selves  all  that  was  typical  of  the  age,  all  that  was  purest  in  its 
morality,  ripest  in  its  wisdom,  and  most  benign  in  its  influence  ? 
Do  these  things  stand  for  nothing  in  history  ?  Is  there  not 
behind  them  a  suggestion  ?  Is  there  coming  a  Name  that  shall 
be  above  every  name  ?  Shall  even  Moses  be  forgotten  in  the 
splendours  of  a  nobler  title?  As  the  Pentateuch  has  led  up  to  the 
coronation  of  Moses,  do  not  all  the  books  of  both  Testaments  lead 
up  to  the  enthronement  of  him  who  is  King  of  kings  and  Lord 
of  lords,  and  before  whom  all  living  powers  bow  in  profoundest 
homage,  and  to  whom  they  look  with  most  expectant  hope  ? 
There  is  a  genius  in  history  of  this  kind.  This  is  not  a  novel 
arrangement  on  the  part  of  the  Bible — that  a  name  here  and 
there  shall  be  a  dominant  name  of  that  particular  time  and  place. 
We  find  the  same  idea  through  all  history.  There  is  a  king 
everywhere,  in  all  society  a  leader,  in  all  organisation  a  throbbing 
heart,  a  beating  pulse,  an  eye  with  accent  in  it,  a  point  of  light  ; 
and  to  that  man,  that  influence,  that  eye,  all  other  men  for  the 
time  being  look  for  sustenance,  guidance,  stimulus,  and  inspira¬ 
tion.  So  the  pages  are  turned  over ;  so  history  rises,  falls, 
recombines,  and  amplifies,  and  at  the  last  there  is  one  Name 
that  swallows  up  all  other  names — JESUS,  the  Name  to  sinners 
dear.  And  Jesus  is  not  ashamed  to  be  associated  with  Moses. 
When  the  great  song  rolls  in  the  heavenly  places,  like  thunder 
upon  thunder,  it  is  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb — as  if  these 
two  names  touched  the  extreme  points  of  history  and  gathered 
up  into  themselves  all  the  elements  of  human  education,  human 
progress,  and  human  salvation.  See  if  this  be  not  so.  This 
cannot  be  seen  unless  the  revelation  is  read  from  beginning  to 
end — so  read  that  the  mind  is  cleared  of  every  other  thought 
and  recollection,  and  the  grand  Biblical  purpose  engraves  itself 


38 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


upon  the  intellect  and  the  heart,  the  understanding  and  the 
imagination.  To  believe  in  the  Bible,  read  it.  No  man  who 
ever  read  the  Bible,  with  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  disbelieved  it. 
Readers  have  come  in  here  and  there  in  a  violent  and  wanton 
way  that  would  be  rebuked  as  indecent  were  they  treating  a 
human  poem  so,  and  have  said  severe  and  foolish  things  about 
the  Bible ;  but  wherever  the  Bible  has  been  fairly  treated,  read 
as  a  whole,  understood  in  its  parts  and  relations,  apprehended 
in  all  its  moral  relations  and  all  its  moral  issues,  it  has  been 
received  and  adopted  and  worshipped  as  the  book  of  God. 

We  cannot  read  the  Pentateuch  as  a  whole  without  being 
struck  with  the  fact  that  all  the  human  movement  in  it  is  a 
movement  towards  one  land.  After  a  certain  time  we  are 
conscious  that  a  great  procession  is  taking  place.  There  is  a 
loud  trampling  of  feet,  there  is  a  tumultuous  sensation  every¬ 
where  :  men  are  moving,  standards  are  pitched,  tents  are  struck, 
and  travelling  begins  on  a  mighty  and  unprecedented  scale. 
Whither  goes  the  host  ?  What  is  the  name  of  your  country, 
O  pilgrims  in  the  desert?  Know  ye  to  what  destination  ye 
hasten  ? — tell  us  the  name.  To  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey,  to  the  land  sworn  to  be  given  to  Abraham,  and  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  to  a  land  of  green  things  and  plentifulness,  and 
singing  birds  ;  to  that  land  wre  go,  and  every  night  we  pitch 
our  camp  a  day’s  march  nearer  home.  Are  you  all  bound 
for  one  land  ?  All — men,  women,  and  children,  the  mightiest 
and  the  feeblest.  Is  it  a  hospitable  land  ?  It  flows  with  milk 
and  honey.  Do  you  take  any  people  up  with  you  on  the 
road  ?  Yes :  u  Come  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  do  thee  good  : 
for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  good  concerning  Israel.”  So  every¬ 
thing  is  forgotten  in  the  presence  of  the  all-constraining  Canaan. 
It  is  the  magnet-land;  it  is  the  all-drawing  cord.  Men  must 
have  something  ahead.  You  cannot  destroy  this  element  of 
purpose  and  hope,  without  making  a  tremendous  reduction  in 
the  volume,  and  deterioration  in  the  quality,  of  the  human 
mind.  All  men  are  travelling  to  some  land.  Many  a  poet 
who  has  never  written  rhj^med  lines  sings  to  himself  of  some 
fair  country  where  he  will  have  Sabbath  a  week  long — rest, 
peace,  reconciliation,  health,  and  the  power  of  enjoying  every 


THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE. 


39 


point  of  accessible  and  visible  nature.  Then  there  is  nothing 
startlingly  novel  or  simply  romantic  about  all  these  people  moving 
to  a  common  country?  Nothing  whatever.  This  is  the  programme 
of  all  human  life ;  this  is  purpose  of  every  intelligent  soul.  To 
what  land  are  we  journeying  ?  To  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey.  Has  any  description  of  the  land  been  handed  to  any 
traveller  who  can  give  us  some  notion  of  the  country  to  which 
we  are  moving?  Yes  :  the  country  has  been  discovered,  and  it 
is  called  a  city — a  city  where  they  have  no  need  of  the  sun,  or 
of  the  moon  ;  a  land  in  which  there  is  no  night,  no  sin,  no  death, 
no  sea.  The  describers  of  that  land  have  often  to  portray  it 
in  striking  negatives.  Wherever  we  find  any  thing  that  is  repel¬ 
lent,  undesirable,  uncomely — anything  that  is  feared,  avoided, 
disliked,  the  describers  say, — The  city  to  which'  you  are  going 
has  nothing  of  that  kind  in  it;  cleanse  your  mind  of  all  such 
fears :  it  is  morning- land,  it  is  summer-land ;  the  light  never 
fades,  and  the  service  is  never  accompanied  by  tedium  or 
weariness.  It  is  right  to  ask  one  another,  To  what  country  are 
you  going  ?  For  what  place  are  you  bound  ?  We  are  to  that 
extent  our  brother’s  keeper ;  and  it  never  can  be  an  impertinent 
question,  if  not  impertinently  put,  Brother,  tu  what  land  do  you 
hasten  ?  We  have  been  so  trained  by  the  Moses  of  the  new 
covenant — the  Son  of  God — that  there  is  no  land  upon  earth 
we  could  tolerate  for  a  moment  as  a  final  resting-place.  We 
could  not  tolerate  the  grave,  if  it  were  the  end.  We  speak  about 
it  poetically  as  the  end  ;  sometimes  the  weary  traveller  longs 
for  it :  he  says, — Oh  that  I  could  lay  me  down  under  the  sod  and 
enter  into  the  peace  of  a  long  dreamless  sleep  ! — but  we  are  so 
trained  to  the  estimation  of  values,  to  the  estimation  of  time 
and  space  and  all  resource  adapted  to  human  necessity,  that 
we  despise  time,  space, — Lebanon,  Bashan,  and  all  the  vineyards 
of  the  earth,  and  all  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills,  with  the 
silver  and  the  gold  hidden  there.  When  we  are  asked  our 
destination,  we  say, — We  seek  a  country  out  of  sight,  a  city  that 
hath  foundations  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  A  romantic 
reply  to  the  untrained  mind,  but  prose-poetry  to  the  soul  that 
has  been  educated,  chastened,  purified,  and  made  meet  for  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  Poor  is  the  life — poor  to 
contemptibleness — that  lives  in  any  other  direction,  that  goes 


40 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


downwards  in  its  desires,  and  that  trains  itself  to  dispositions 
that  are  grovelling.  Herein  is  the  glory  and  the  joy  of  the 
Christian  inspiration,  that  it  fills  the  soul  with  discontent  with 
regard  to  everything  time  and  space  can  give  as  final  medica¬ 
ments  and  benedictions,  and  stirs  in  the  soul  that  lofty  desire 
which  can  only  be  satisfied  with  all  that  we  know  by  the  sweet 
name  of  heaven.  So  long  as  Christianity  thus  creates  larger 
desires,  nobler  aspirations,  discontentment  with  all  things  finite, 
it  will  maintain  its  place  in  human  history  and  in  human  education. 
\f  it  excited  discontent  only,  men  would  become  weary  of  it,  and 
shake  it  off  as  a  burden ;  but  it  only  creates  discontent  that  it 
may  bring  in  a  larger  capacity  and  a  more  profound  contentment. 

We  cannot  read  the  Pentateuch  as  a  whole  without  being 
struck  as  to  the  way  by  which  that  land  is  to  be  reached. 
We  cannot  reach  it  by  desiring  it,  by  talking  about  it  merely, 
by  dreaming  of  it  in  periods  of  sleep,  or  even  in  day-dreams 
of  intellectual  recreation.  It  is  a  land  that  must  be  walked  to — 
a  long,  long  walk,  over  stony  places,  up  great  hills,  through 
winding  and  perilous  valleys,  where  beasts  of  prey  roam,  and 
where  pits  are  dug,  and  where  dangers  lie  thick  as  the 
travellers’  footprints ;  the  way  must  be  walked  step  by  step, 
it  is  a  way  regulated  by  law.  Men  do  not  make  paths  for 
themselves.  “  Thou  shalt,”  “  Thou  shalt  not,” — are  the  words 
which  continually  ring  in  the  ear  of  the  traveller.  The  wanderer 
sees  a  way  he  would  like  to  take  ;  it  seems  to  be  a  way  of 
greensward,  and  on  the  greensward  there  seem  to  be  little 
quiet  flowers,  and  the  traveller  says, — May  I  not  walk  by  that 
green  road  ? — and  a  voice  says,  “Thou  shalt  not.”  The  way  is 
over  stony  places ;  for  days  together  there  may  be  no  water  to 
drink,  for  weeks  together  no  green  thing  can  be  seen ; — this  is 
the  way :  walk  ye  in  it.  Human  life  is  based  upon  divine 
discipline.  Human  life  is  not  a  clever  trick,  a  conjuror’s  art, 
an  opportunity  for  displaying  invention  as  to  the  discovery  of 
roads.  The  roads  were  made  before  we  were  born  ;  the  paths 
have  been  laid  from  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  :  the 
Lamb  of  God  was  slain  before  human  sin  was  committed.  We  must 
therefore  build  back  upon  eternity,  and  look  forward  to  eternity, 
and  accept  the  chastisement,  and  say, — The  thong  is  heavy  and 


THE  PENTATEUCH  AS  A  WHOLE . 


4i 


cuts  often  to  the  bone,  but  it  is  wielded  by  a  Father’s  hand  :  even 
so,  for  so  it  seemeth  good  in  thy  sight.  We  want  to  take  near 
courses,  short  cuts  ;  and  God  will  not  allow  us  to  do  so.  The 
true  life  is  a  life  of  obedience.  He  cannot  rule  who  cannot  obey. 
What  every  man  has  to  ask  is  this  :  What  wilt  thou  have  me 
to  do,  thou  Father  of  spirits  ?  Show  me  the  way,  tell  me  the 
law,  keep  me  with  thy  right  hand,  guide  me  with  thine  eye, 

and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory.  This  is  not  the  surrender 

of  reason,  this  is  not  the  subjugation  of  intellect ;  this  is  the 
finite  accepting  the  infinite,  this  is  ignorance  asking  for 
wisdom,  this  is  the  lamb  pleading  to  be  carried  in  the  shepherd’s 
arms.  Such  is  the  philosophy  of  revelation  in  the  matter  of 
human  progress.  No  little  suffering  accompanies  that  progress : 
— u  Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth.”  He  beats  us  back 
sometimes.  Now  and  then  we  would  move  too  soon,  and  the  Lord 
says  we  have  yet  to  remain  in  the  same  place  a  day  or  two, 

or  more.  Thus  is  patience  tried,  thus  is  temper  tested,  thus 

is  character  consolidated,  mellowed,  ennobled.  We  should  have 
been  poor  but  for  our  suffering ;  we  should  have  been  mere 
talkers  of  human  dreams,  if  we  had  not  lived  in  tragedy  all 
the  pain  of  this  life.  “  Though  he  siay  me,  yet  will  I  trust 
in  him.”  He  has  been  with  me  in  six  troubles,  and  in  the 
seventh  he  will  not  forsake  me.  As  to  the  weapon  that  is 
being  formed  against  me,  it  shall  not  prosper  :  it  shall  rust  in  the 
night-time,  and  in  the  morning  have  no  handle,  and  shall  only 
cut  the  man  who  seizes  it.  O  rest  in  the  Lord,  and  wait 
patiently  for  him ;  and  he  shall  give  thee  thine  heart’s  desire. 

Then,  again,  the  whole  Pentateuch  is  marked  by  its  persistent 
religiousness.  It  is  an  intensely  religious  book.  The  religious 
service  never  ceases ;  there  is  no  intermission,  no  lifting  away 
of  the  hand  that  presses  :  the  sacrifice  never  ends,  the  fire 
is  never  put  out,  the  blood  never  ceases  to  flow.  There  is 
no  time  for  play,  for  privilege,  for  self-indulgence :  one  service 
is  scarcely  ended  before  another  begins ;  and  so  the  ceremony 
rolls  on  in  impetuous  determination  to  subdue  the  human  will 
and.  exhaust  all  that  is  poorest  and  meanest  in  human  life.  So 
must  human  life  itself  be.  To  be  really  grand,  it  must  be 
supremely  religious  ;  to  be  really  useful,  it  must  be  continually 


42 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


active  in  the  service  of  God.  We  cease  to  live  when  we  cease 
to  pray.  We  cease  to  give  when  we  cease  to  love.  We  lose 
the  Sabbath  day  when  we  lose  the  resurrection.  We  can  only 
lose  Christian  doctrine  when  we  lose  the  Cross  out  of  which 
■  it  flows.  We  cannot  do  good  from  a  motive  that  is  not  equal 
to  the  occasion  without  showing  how  shallow  is  the  well  out 
of  which  we  have  drawn.  There  is  but  one  motive  that  will 
stand  all  weathers,  all  strains  and  tests  :  “  the  love  of  Christ 
constraineth  us.” 


* 


JOSHUA 


PRAYER 

Almighty  God,  thou  art  always  thinking  of  us :  all  things  are  for  our  sake. 

Thy  providence  is  the  proof  of  thy  redemption ;  they  are  one  and  the  same 
great  thought  of  love.  Thou  didst  make  man  in  thine  own  image  and  like¬ 
ness,  and  thou  art  continuing  so  to  make  him ;  and  thy  great  labour  shall 
not  cease  until  the  similitude  be  perfected.  This  is  thy  work  amongst  us. 

We  weary  thee,  and  try  thee,  and  bring  the  warm  tears  to  thine  eyes 
because  of  perverseness  and  self-will ;  but  thou  dost  not  release  thyself 
from  the  great  task  :  the  purpose  of  God  standeth  sure  ;  it  is  an  eternal 
thought;  thou  wilt  not  be  wearied  out.  Yea,  thou  hast  burned  the  world, 
or  drowned  it  with  great  tempests  of  water ;  yet  thou  hast  preserved  a  root, 
a  germ,  so  that  thy  process  may  go  on  and  thy  will  may  be  made  known; 
and,  behold,  who  can  set  himself  so  much  against  the  purpose  of  heaven 
as  finally  to  destroy  the  decree  of  the  Almighty  ?  It  is  thine  to  work 
through  all  the  ages.  Eternity  is  thine.  We  know  nothing  of  duration :  we 
are  a  wind  that  cometh  for  a  little  time  and  bloweth  away  into  forgetfulness; 
we  are  a  light  quickly  blown  out ;  we  are  a  fading  flower ;  there  is  none  that 
abideth  :  but  the  throne  of  the  glorious  God  is  for  ever.  We  rejoice  in  this 
thought :  it  makes  us  steadfast  and  calm  in  the  midst  of  storms  and  threats 
that  would  render  our  lives  intolerable.  Things  are  shaken  that  are  meant 
to  be  shaken,  that  those  things  which  cannot  be  shaken  may  reveal  their 
solidity,  the  more.  We  rest  in  God  ;  we  would  be  one  with  God  ;  we  would 
know  no  will  but  thine;  and  thus  ordering  our  life  according  to  the  music 
of  thy  commands,  thy  statutes  shall  become  songs,  and  the  darkest  night  but 
a  time  to  sing  in  most  loudly,  sweetly,  tenderly.  We  give  one  another  to 
thee  in  continual  prayer.  To  be  in  God  is  to  be  in  one  another ;  to  be  in 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord  is  to  have  fellowship  of  soul  one  with  another  and  to 
enter  into  the  preliminary  joy  of  blessed  heaven.  We  come  to  the  Cross  of  / 
Christ;  we  glory  in  that  alone.  We  do  not  comprehend  all  its  mystery: 
we  cannot  tell  why  the  blood  is  so  red,  why  it  was  poured  out  from  an 
innocent,  holy  heart ;  we  can  say  nothing  in  words  of  all  the  great  emotion 
which  moves  our  hearts,  but  we  believe  that  is  thy  revelation,  thy  way  of 
saving  the  world;  Lord,  we  believe,  help  thou  our  unbelief!  We  are  the 
better  for  this  look  towards  the  Cross.  It  is  a  look  away  from  ourselves, 
away  into  eternity  and  heaven  and  mystery  divine.  We  rejoice  that  thou 


44 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  i.  1-9. 


hast  appointed  times  when  we  may  specially  commune  with  thee,  in  open 
terms,  in  a  common  language,  when  the  old,  and  the  young,  and  the 
busy,  and  the  suffering  may  all  commune  in  open  fellowship  under  the 
open  sky  of  heaven,  praising  God  with  a  common  voice  and  with  a  loud 
song.  We  own  our  sinfulness,  but  we  own  thy  might  to  destroy  it.  Thou 
wilt  not  forsake  thine  own  seed,  the  work  of  thine  own  hands,  the  heart  in 
which  the  Son  of  God  is  born.  Reveal  thy  Son  within  us  day  by  day. 
May  we  see  his  beauty,  may  we  feel  his  touch,  may  we  be  assured  of  his 
love,  and  may  we  live  ana  move  in  his  eternal  strength.  Help  us  to  live  this 
little  life  wisely  and  well ;  may  we  not  invent  methods  of  our  own  whereby 
to  make  our  life  better,  but,  reading  thy  law,  meditating  on  thy  truth,  we  shall 
be  enabled  to  deal  wisely,  to  subdue  every  enemy  and  opposition,  and  to 
enter  into  the  prepared  rest.  Hear  us  in  these  things,  and  let  thy  love  be 
continued  toward  us  as  thou  dost  continue  the  light  of  the  sun  to  warm  and 
cheer  the  earth.  Leave  none  unblessed  !  May  the  worst  heart  lift  itself  up 
in  new  strength ;  may  the  soul  in  which  there  has  been  desolation  like  the 
darkness  of  night  know  that  the  light  of  hope  is  shining  upon  it,  and  that 
the  music  of  heavenly  welcomes  is  addressed  to  its  despair.  Spoil  every 
evil  plan ;  thwart  every  mischievous  purpose ;  sweeten  every  sour  disposi¬ 
tion,  and  make  straight  the  will  that  is  perverse.  May  we  now  enter  into  an 
oath  of  consecration,  a  solemn,  noble  vow  to  be  better,  to  do  better,  to  work 
more  diligently,  and  construe  each  other’s  action  more  charitably,  and  all 
this  in  Christ,  and  by  Christ,  without  whom  we  can  do  nothing.  Continue 
thy  pity  toward  us,  for  we  are  not  yet  strong  enough  to  do  without  it :  we 
still  come  to  thy  compassionate  side;  we  dare  not  face  thy  righteousness,  or 
challenge  the  burning  light  of  thine  honour  and  thy  law,  but  we  may  come 
and  say,  at  the  Cross,  and  through  its  power,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner  1  Amen. 

Joshua  i.  1-9. 

1.  Now  after  the  death  of  Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord  it  came  to  pass, 
that  the  Lord  spake  unto  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  Moses’  minister,  saying, 

2.  Moses  my  servant  is  dead ;  now  therefore  arise,  go  over  this  Jordan, 
thou,  and  all  this  people,  unto  the  land  which  I  do  give  to  them,  even  to 
the  children  of  Israel. 

3.  Every  place  that  the  sole  of  your  foot  shall  tread  upon,  that  have  I 
given  unto  you,  as  I  said  unto  Moses. 

4.  From  the  wilderness  and  this  Lebanon,  even  unto  the  great  river,  the 
river  Euphrates,  all  the  land  of  the  Hittites,  and  unto  the  great  sea  toward 
the  going  down  of  the  sun,  shall  be  your  coast. 

5.  There  shall  not  any  man  be  able  to  stand  before  thee  all  the  days  of 
thy  life :  as  I  was  with  Moses,  so  I  will  be  with  thee  :  I  will  not  fail  thee 
nor  forsake  thee. 

6.  Be  strong  and  of  good  courage :  for  unto  this  people  shalt  thou  divide 
for  an  inheritance  the  land,  which  I  sware  unto  their  fathers  to  give  them. 

7.  Only  be  thou  strong  and  very  courageous,  that  thou  mayest  observe  to 
do  according  to  all  the  law,  which  Moses  my  servant  commanded  thee  : 
turn  not  from  it  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  that  thou  mayest  prosper 
whithersoever  thou  goest. 


Josh.  i.  1-9.]  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL. 


45 


8.  This  book  of  the  law  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth ;  but  thou  shalt 
meditate  therein  day  and  night,  that  thou  mayest  observe  to  do  according 
to  all  that  is  written  therein  :  for  then  thou  shalt  make  thy  way  prosperous, 
and  then  thou  shalt  have  good  success. 

9.  Have  not  I  commanded  thee?  Be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage;  be 
not  afraid,  neither  be  thou  dismayed :  for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  with  thee 
whithersoever  thou  goest. 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL. 

THE  book  of  Joshua  has  been  divided  into  three  sections — 
namely,  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  chapters  i.-xii. ;  the  division 
of  the  land,  chapters  xiii.-xxii. ;  while  chapters  xxiii.,  xxiv., 
are  devoted  to  a  statement  concerning  the  closing  days  of  the 
soldier  Joshua.  The  main  action  of  the  book  comprises  a  period 
of  twenty-five  years.  The  pedigree  of  Joshua  is  illustrious; 
it  may  be  seen  in  1  Chronicles  vii.  20-27,  reaching  back  through 
generations  to  Joseph.  His  grandfather,  Elishama,  marched 
through  the  wilderness  of  Sinai  at  the  head  of  his  tribe,  and 
probably  he  had  special  charge  of  the  embalmed  body  of  Joseph. 
The  book  is  indirectly  referred  to  in  many  places  both  in  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  New;  for  example  in  Judges  xviii.  31  ; 
1  Samuel  i.  24;  iii.  21;  Isaiah  xxviii.  21;  Psalm  xliv.  2-3; 
Ixviii.  12-14;  lxxviii.  54-58;  cxiv.  1-8;  Habakkuk  iii.  8-13;  Acts 
vii.  45;  Hebrews  iv.  8;  xi.  31;  xiii.  5;  James  ii.  25.  These 
passages  are  collated  to  show  that  the  references  to  the  book  of 
Joshua  are  not  merely  incidental  or  occasional,  but  that  the  book 
is  certified  by  reference  and  endorsed  by  application  throughout 
the  most  of  the  remainder  of  the  sacred  records.  Joshua  was 
a  prince  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  born  in  the  land  of  Goshen, 
and  trained  as  a  soldier, — kept  in  repression  during  many  years, 
because  there  was  really  nothing  for  a  soldier-prophet  to  do.  He 
was  appointed  to  repel  the  attack  of  Amalek.  He  was  honoured 
to  accompany  the  great  minister  partly  up  his  solitary  way  which 
lay  towards  the  meeting-place  on  the  summit  of  mount  Sinai.  He 
was  one  of  the  two  spies  who  came  back  with  a  good  heart  and 
an  inspiring  word,  saying  that  the  work  could  be  done  and  was 
worth  doing.  For  a  long  time  he  was  in  the  background  :  nothing 
was  known  of  him  during  the  years  of  weary  wandering  in  the 
Arabian  desert.  A  weird  character  altogether! — Speaking  of  his 


46 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  i.  1-9. 


house,  but  with  a  limitation  ;  without  wife,  or  child,  or  heir;  stand¬ 
ing,  as  it  were,  midway  between  Moses  and  Samuel — a  period 
of  four  hundred  years.  A  soldier  always, — prompt,  obedient, 
decisive,  sharp  in  expression ;  his  attitude  a  challenge  or  a 
benediction.  Great  was  his  honour,  too :  into  his  much-mean¬ 
ing  name  there  was  inserted  part  of  the  name  of  the  Eternal ;  and 
Joshua  in  its  Greek  form  is  Jesus — the  captain  of  our  salvation — 
the  name  which  is  above  every  name.  So  may  our  names  grow 
and  blossom  and  fructify  into  great  meanings  ;  they  are  trusts : 
we  hold  them  as  stewards  ; — shall  they  vanish  like  blanks  that  can 
never  be  missed,  or  live  on  day  after  day, — a  memory,  a  blessing, 
an  inspiration  ?  Each  man  must  answer  the  inquiry  for  himself. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  book  with  religious  attentiveness. 
li  Now  after  the  death  of  Moses — ”  (v.  1).  Can  there  be  any 
“  after  ”  under  such  a  circumstance  ?  Does  not  all  time  seem 
to  breathe  for  certain  men  ?  And  does  it  not  seem  as  if  there 
would  be  no  need  of  time  if  their  great  figures  and  generous 
influence  were  removed  ?  Does  not  time  seem  to  focus  itself 
in  some  noble  characters — as  if  all  other  life  were  tributary  to 
those  eminent  personalities,  as  if  all  other  influence  circulated 
around  them  and  had  heaven  enough  in  a  subordinate  relation¬ 
ship  ?  But  God  can  bury  any  one  of  us,  and  continue  the  history 
as  though  we  had  never  lived.  We  cannot  make  great 
gaps  in  God’s  providence.  His  thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts, 
neither  his  ways  our  ways.  Ele  toucheth  the  mountains,  and 
they  smoke ;  he  taketh  up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing,  and 
the  nations  are  as  a  drop  of  a  bucket — a  poor  trembling  eye 
of  dew — before  Him.  We  cry  over  this  opening  line  as  if 
some  great  chasm  had  been  dug  in  our  little  heaven.  We 
forget  that  the  man  spoken  of  is  only  dead  to  us,  not  dead 
to  the  universe,  or  dead  to  God,  or  dead  in  any  sense  equiva¬ 
lent  to  extinction  or  destruction.  The  word  is  a  cold  one,  and 
full  of  hideousness  in  some  aspects ;  we  must  use  it ;  no 
other  term  touches  the  reality  of  things  so  significantly,  but  we 
must,  by  living  in  a  right  course  so  look  down  upon  all 
things  as  to  account  death  as  only  a  word — a  mere  term  of 
expediency,  a  mark  of  punctuation,  rather  than  an  articulate 
term, — a  point  a  printer  might  use,  but  really  without  any  terror 
or  sting  or  dread.  Death  is  dead  to  every  man  who  is  himself 


Josh.  i.  1-9.]  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL . 


47 


alive  with  the  immortality  of  his  soul.  And  some  great  names 
must  be  removed  to  make  way  for  lesser  names  that  have 
growing  sap  in  them  and  real  capability  of  beneficent  expan¬ 
sion.  Some  great  trees  must  be  cut  down  to  make  room  for 
lesser  trees  that  mean  to  be  great  ones  in  their  time.  We  owe 
much  to  the  cutting-down  power  of  death,  the  clearing  power  of 
the  cruel  scythe  or  axe.  Death  makes  history  as  well  as  life. 
Of  life  death  is  the  servant.  The  great  thing  to  know  about  the 
dead  is  their  character.  That  character  in  the  case  of  Moses  is 
indicated  here  explicitly — “  the  servant  of  the  Lord.”  Is  the  term 
so  definite  as  almost  to  amount  to  an  indication  or  singularity 
— as  if  the  Lord  had  but  one  servant  ?  The  expression  is  not 
“one  of  the  servants,”  or  “a”  servant,  but  “the  ”  servant.  Nor 
is  this  an  ancient  term  only ;  it  is  part  of  the  speech  of  our  day. 
There  are  men  who  are  pre-eminently  primates.  We  do  not 
contest  their  primacy.  It  is  not  official.  The  greater  the  man 
the  readier  he  is  to  own  that  Moses  is  above  him  :  for  in  no 
domineering  or  tyrannous  sense  is  the  higher  above  the  lower, 
but  in  the  sense  of  wisdom,  graciousness,  fraternity  of  feeling, 
willingness  to  serve, — for  what  child  is  there,  how  naked  and 
poor  soever,  that  the  sun  will  disdain  to  light  him  home  ?  The 
greater  man  is  the  lesser  man  in  proper  form.  The  least  brother 
has  a  right  to  look  *at  the  greatest  and  say — that  is  myself  enlarged 
and  glorified  ;  that  shining  face  is  mine;  that  eloquent  tongue  is 
uttering  my  speech  ;  that  mighty  form  is  carrying  my  burdens; 
so,  then,  there  is  no  contentious  rivalry,  or  clamour  for  place 
or  honour.  God  makes  every  appointment,  and  makes  it  with 
infinite  wisdom. 

Whilst  all  this  is  true  in  regard  to  Moses,  surely  there  is 
some  painfulness  of  preference  with  regard  to  the  man  who  must 
follow  him?  Yet  who  can  tell  how  good  God  is  even  here? 
Men  are  prepared  almost  unconsciously :  it  is  but  one  step  that 
has  to  be  taken.  The  men  did  not  know  all  the  time  that  they 
were  waiting  to  take  that  upward  step.  The  announcement  of 
elevation  may  have  come  suddenly,  but  then  there  is  an  answer¬ 
ing  voice  which  says — I  have  heard  this  before;  this  but  reads 
the  riddle  of  a  dream ;  now  I  feel  that  God  is  calling  me.  Let 
every  man,  therefore,  be  faithful  in  his  own  place;  let  every  man 
watch,  do  his  duty,  carry  his  burdens,  be  ready  for  enlarging 


48 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  i.  1-9. 


opportunities  and  new  disclosures  of  gracious  providence.  Do 
not  force  the  gate  that  is  closed :  there  is  plenty  to  do  upon  this 
side  of  the  way;  in  due  time  the  gate  will  fall  back  as  if  an 
angel  invisible  had  touched  it,  and  by  the  falling  back  of  the 
gate  know  of  a  surety  your  opportunity  has  come. 

What  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  when  the  announcement  is 
made,  u  Moses  my  servant  is  dead  ”  ?  The  answer  is  sublime  ! 
The  Lord  addresses  himself  to  the  soldier-spirit  of  Joshua  : — 
“  Now,  therefore  ” — stopping  there  for  one  moment  and  wondering 
what  the  next  word  can  be — we  think  it  must  be :  Bow  down 
your  heads  in  sorrow ;  weep  all  your  tears,  for  the  loss  is 
irreparable.  What  is  the  following  word  ?  Take  the  sentence 
altogether: — “Now  therefore  arise”!  Who  can  extinguish  the 
animation  of  the  divine  word,  or  throw  a  shadow  upon  the 
divine  hope,  or  discourage  the  heart  of  Heaven  ?  Moses  is 
dead  :  therefore — stand  up !  gird  on  thy  sword,  put  on  thy 
strength  ;  be  thy  best  self  and  noblest,  for  the  sphere  is  large,  and 
to  follow  Moses  is  to  be  created  a  new  and  greater  man.  What 
is  Joshua  to  do  ?  An  epoch  opens  in  reply  to  that  inquiry.  We 
turn  over  a  new  page  in  the  world’s  history  at  this  moment :  we 
come  upon  words  we  have  not  seen  before — words  which  abide 
in  all  their  energy  through  the  ages.  Joshua  is  referred  to 
written  orders.  Up  to  this  time  there  has  been  no  reference 
to  writing  in  the  sense  in  which  that  reference  is  made  now. 
Behold,  in  all  the  outgoing  of  providence  there  is  a  book  amongst 
us — a  written  thing — a  silent  scroll,  burning  with  messages  from 
heaven.  Moses  had  no  Bible  ;  Moses  lived  on  the  spoken  word  : 
he  heard  the  tone  and  translated  it  into  the  speech  of  the 
people,  but  there  was  nothing  written  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
word  is  used  in  the  eighth  verse  of  this  first  chapter  of  Joshua. 
A  new  responsibility  is  imposed  upon  the  Church.  This  is  the 
difficulty  with  many  men — namely,  that  there  is  a  Book.  The 
Book  is  so  often  in  the  way.  We  might  build  a  thousand  airy 
churches,  and  make  their  glittering  pinnacles  prick  the  clouds, 
but  for  the  Book.  There  is  a  written  lav/,  a  declared  testimony, 
a  quotable  word, — something  requiring  attention,  intelligence, 
sympathy,  grammar.  Thus  liberty  itself  passes  under  the  yoke. 
When  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,  every  man  did  that  which  was 
good  in  his  own  eyes  :  if  there  were  no  book,  every  one  of  us 


Josh.i.  i-g.]  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL . 


49 


might  have  his  dream,  his  prophecy,  his  saying,  his  little  pastoral 
staff  and  crook.  But  Joshua  is  told  to  begin  to  read  : — u  This  book 
of  the  law  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth  ;  but  thou  shalt 
meditate  therein  day  and  night,  that  thou  mayest  observe  to  do 
according  to  all  that  is  written  therein  ”  (v.  8).  An  excellent 
thing  this,  too, — namely,  to  have  a  book  !  The  question  admits 
of  being  put  from  two  opposite  points  of  view.  An  excellent 
reflection  that  there  is  a  writing  which  may  be  consulted,  and 
which  must  be  perused  if  life  is  to  seize  the  very  highest  treasures 
of  wisdom.  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony  then, — not  that 
they  are  to  be  interpreted  hardly,  in  some  tone  of  domination  that 
oppresses  the  soul,  but  a  written  word  that  is  to  be  a  living  seed, 
growing  its  fruits  in  every  clime,  answering  all  the  influences  of 
heaven  as  revealed  in  civilisation,  education,  and  progress  of  the 
broadest  and  noblest  kind.  The  eighth  verse  is,  however, 
noticeable  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  puts  a  book  into  the  hand  of 
men.  The  book  has  never  been  changed.  Jesus  Christ  did  not 
change  it  :  he  said  not  a  jot  or  tittle  of  it  should  be  changed  or 
taken  away,  unless  by  fulfilment,  completion  of  purpose,  when  the 
meaning  intended  by  the  Almighty  had  been  carried  out, — then 
there  might  be  a  passing  away  of  literal  form,  but  even  then 
veneration  would  bow  down  before  pillars  at  which  the  ages  had 
halted  and  refreshed  themselves  in  prayer.  Where  then  is 
liberty  ?  Again  and  again  there  comes  upon  the  imagination  the 
wondrous  possibility  of  things  under  a  liberty  in  which  every  man 
might  write  his  own  Bible.  How  we  would  change  its  spirit  to 
suit  the  circumstances  !  How  we  would  temper  its  tone  to  meet 
the  occasion  !  A  little  manipulation  would  give  its  moralities 
release  from  their  severest  claims :  a  retrimming  of  the  lamp 
would  throw  light  in  an  unfamiliar  direction ;  but  man  is  only 
allowed  to  interpret  the  law — to  meditate  therein  day  and  night, 
to  find  out  its  meaning — for  though  it  be  so  clear,  so  simple,  it 
is  the  simplicity  that  is  unfathomable,  the  simplicity  that  ex¬ 
presses  the  last  result  of  divine  processes  in  human  education. 
So,  then,  we  are  called  to  be  law  students,  Bible  readers, 
inquirers  into  written  revelation.  Here  comes  in  a  great  popular 
liberty.  The  law  is  published  in  our  mother  tongue  :  every  man 
may  take  his  own  copy  into  his  own  sick-chamber,  and  there 
peruse  it  in  the  light  of  other  history  and  personal  consciousness 

4 


VOL.  V. 


50 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  i.  i-q. 


and  experience,  and  test  the  book  by  individual  necessities.  This 
is  the  great  answer  to  the  tumult  of  the  day.  On  the  one  hand 
we  hear  of  men  who  long  to  resuscitate  and  reimpose  stately 
theologies,  formal  creeds,  endorsed  by  illustrious  names, — and 
the  age  will  not  have  them  ;  it  says  that  such  theologies  and 
creeds  and  men  served  their  purpose  in  their  own  time,  and 
within  the  limits  of  their  operation  they  were  good  and  useful, 
but  the  ages  grow  :  the  sun  has  not  been  sowing  all  this  light 
upon  the  earth  without  an  accompanying  sowing  of  light  having 
taken  place  in  the  fields  of  human  inquiry  and  intelligence.  On 
the  other  hand  there  are  those  who  say — Our  refuge  must  be  in 
science,  new  discovery,  in  broad,  generous  progress; — and  the 
age  cannot  receive  that  testimony  either.  The  great  human 
heart  says — That  of  which  you  speak  is  good  and  noble  and  most 
useful,  and  we  thank  God  for  every  discovery  that  makes  life 
brighter,  happier,  easier  to  live  ;  but  you  have  not  touched  the 
innermost  wound — the  secret  pulse  of  the  soul, — that  seems  to 
lie  beyond  the  reach  of  your  finger.  What  then  is  our  position 
in  relation  to  these  rival  claims  ?  Our  position  is  :  let  the  Bible 
speak  for  itself.  We  wrant  Biblical  teaching,  thorough  exposition, 
a  reading  of  the  word  in  the  light  of  the  present  day  ; — not  by 
theology  of  a  formal  kind,  not  by  science  of  a  domineering  sort, 
but  by  the  Bible  itself  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  be  advanced. 
Use  Bible  words.  Do  not  be  ashamed  of  Bible  images  and  Bible 
doctrines.  Do  not  make  the  Bible  part  of  a  library,  but  make  it 
a  library  by  itself.  “  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you 
richly.”  If  you  are  controverting,  arguing,  disputing,  setting  one 
opinion  against  another,  what  can  come  of  it  but  dust  and  noise  ? 
Our  position  as  Christian  thinkers  and  teachers  is  only  strong  in 
proportion  to  our  intelligent  and  reverent  study  and  appropriation 
of  the  law — meaning  by  that  the  whole  written  revelation  of  God. 
Here,  again,  we  must  beware  of  interpreters,  and  only  accept 
them  as  friendly  helpers.  No  man  is  authorised  to  say,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  opinion  and  learning  of  every  other  man, — This  is 
the  meaning,  and  there  is  none  other.  The  Bible  will  bear 
looking  at  from  every  point  of  view.  It  rises  to  every  occasion. 
Not  a  word  of  it  need  be  changed.  The  word  simply  asks  for 
a  right  utterance,  a  profound  and  appropriate  exposition.  It  is 
wonderful  that  men  can  talk  about  theology  and  about  science, 


Josh.  i.  1-9.]  TILE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL. 


5i 


and  never  say  a  word  about  the  Bible.  Nor  will  it  do  to  say,  “  Of 
course  the  existence  of  the  Bible  is  assumed.”  The  Bible  asks 
for  no  such  recognition  :  it  asks  to  be  read.  Its  voice  would  seem 
to  be  :  Read  me  night  and  day ;  read  me  aloud ;  read  me  in  tones 
appropriate  to  the  occasion  :  whisper  me  to  the  sick  and  the  dying  ; 
utter  me  with  tunefulness  and  fascination  of  tone  to  little 
children  and  persons  who  are  in  the  age  of  wonder  or  curiosity ; 
read  me  rudely,  stormily,  if  you  will,  in  the  hearing  of  tumult  and 
the  rage  of  the  heathen  and  the  people  ; — I  only  ask  to  be  read — 
to  be  all  read — to  be  read  night  and  day,  until  there  can  be  no 
mistake  as  to  my  purpose  ; — do  this,  and  live  1  Surely  this  is  the 
meaning  of  the  divine  promise  made  to  Joshua :  11  for  then  thou 
shalt  make  thy  way  prosperous,  and  then  thou  shalt  have  good 
success.”  The  word  “  prosperous  ”  is  not  a  literal  translation. 
The  word  would  read  better  thus  :  for  then  shalt  thou  deal  wisely 
— or  act  wisely — in  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  having  understanding 
of  the  times,  making  allowances  for  the  varieties  of  human  mind 
and  human  character,  and  adapting  me  to  the  state  of  education 
which  may  be  disclosed  from  time  to  time.  He  acts  wisely  who 
lives  in  the  wise  God — the  only  wise  God,  and  our  Saviour. 
We  are  not  referred  to  our  own  wit,  mental  agility,  intellectual 
brilliance  or  genius  :  the  word  in  answer  to  temptation  is  in  the 
law ;  the  word  explanatory  of  righteousness  is  in  the  law ;  the 
word  which  will  keep  us  right  in  business  is  in  the  law ;  the  word 
which  will  save  us  from  sin  is  in  the  written  book  of  God.  So, 
whilst  on  the  one  hand  men  ask  you  to  accept  some  great  scroll  ol 
theology,  and  on  the  other  ask  you  to  accept  some  great  scroll  of 
science,  whilst  you  are  reverent  and  grateful  to  both  of  them 
according  to  their  obvious  merits,  stand  you  upon  the  written 
law  :  it  grows  whilst  we  read  it ;  it  takes  upon  itself  all  the  colour 
of  the  times  ;  it  has  in  it  a  central  constancy  and  yet  an  eternal 
adaptation  and  variation.  The  Bible  is  never  obsolete  :  when  all 
other  voices  have  ceased,  its  noble  majestic  tone  creates  attention 
for  itself, — yea,  men  who  do  not  bow  down  before  it  as  a 
spiritual  ministry  refer  us  to  it  as  to  the  noblest  English  that  can 
be  written, — the  purest,  simplest,  grandest  specimen  of  our  mother 
tongue.  It  is  so  in  every  language.  Wherever  it  undertakes  to 
represent  itself  in  any  language  it  makes  itself  the  chief  specimen 
of  that  language.  It  speaks  all  the  tongues  of  the  world  with 


S2 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  i.  1-9. 


equal  familiarity,  grace,  and  dignity.  It  only  asks  to  be  translated 
into  your  mother  tongue  to  lift  that  tongue  up  into  unknown  and 
unprecedented  dignity.  A  book  that  asks  no  other  favour  can  do 
without  our  patronage  better  than  we  can  do  without  its  counsel. 
Without  changing  a  word,  only  asking  for  a  broad  and  just 
interpretation,  we  stand  upon  the  Bible,  and  to  the  Bible  we  go 
when  the  devil  tempts  us,  when  life  is  a  heavy  burden,  when 
death  is  the  last  foe  ;  and  so  going  we  go  to  victory. 


The  following  is  another  treatment  of  the  same  passage  : — 

“Now,  after  the  death  of  Moses  .  .  .  .”  Yes,  what  after  that? 
Can  there  be  any  lt  after  ”  in  such  an  event  ?  Are  there  no 
great  gaping  vacancies  in  life  which  seem  to  foreclose  history  and 
to  turn  present  events  into  an  anticlimax  and  a  humiliation  ? 
After  the  death  of  Moses — there  can  be  no  after.  After  the  sun 
has  gone  down  has  God  a  lap  of  stars  he  can  shower  upon  the 
darkness  to  alleviate  it  a  little  ?  Doth  after  vision  seem  to  enlarge 
it  and  to  mock  our  memory  of  a  brighter  present  ?  Are  there 
not  some  men  who  have  no  successors  ?  Does  not  the  poet  say, 
il  Only  himself  can  be  his  parallel  ?  ”  Why  then  do  we  come 
upon  these  mocking  words  in  histories  sacred  and  profane,  “  after 
the  death  of  ...”  as  if  the  road  were  a  common  plain,  an 
ordinary  level,  one  milestone  and  another  milestone  ahead,  the 
monotony  of  common-place,  the  common-place  itself  occasionally 
vigorous  enough,  yet  still  to-morrow  shall  be  as  this  day,  and 
more  abundant  in  the  way  of  human  life  and  human  power  and 
human  exaltation  and  majesty  ?  Does  history  stand  still  because 
of  the  death  of  any  one  man  ?  Are  we  not  always  reminded 
that  God  can  do  without  the  strongest  and  wisest  of  us  ?  We 
remain  here  just  long  enough  to  think  that  we  are  needful  to  God, 
and  when  our  pride  has  filled  its  little  goblet,  and  made  itself 
drunk  with  its  own  poison,  he  removes  us,  and  history  rolls 
on  like  a  wave  over  a  forgotten  tomb.  We  are  told  that  all  the 
great  men  have  gone,  the  age  of  miracles  has  gone,  so  has  the  age 
of  inspiration,  so  has  the  age  of  speaking  many  and  divers 
tongues  in  the  Church,  all  healings,  and  marvels  of  signs  and 
wonders  have  vanished  from  the  sphere  ecclesiastical. 


Josh.  i.  1-9.]  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL . 


53 


You  who  make  the  objection  are  in  your  departments  of  life 
fellow-sufferers  with  ourselves.  Your  Shakespeare  is  dead,  as 
well  as  our  Moses — your  Goethe  and  Dante  are  dead  as  well  as 
our  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel.  All  your  great  things  have  been  done, 
your  little  miraculous  role  has  been  played  out  and  shelved  as 
well  as  ours — so  let  there  be  no  mocking  or  undue  and  foolish 
triumphing  the  one  over  the  other,  but  let  there  rather  be  sober 
and  earnest  meditation  upon  this  question,  whether  all  these 
things  that  appear  so  great  in  the  past  have  not  been  displaced  by 
things  greater,  only  less  sensuous  and  demonstrative.  Why,  the 
poorest  of  all  time  is  always  the  present.  When  am  I  richest? 
When  I  go  back  upon  my  yesterdays,  when  I  retrace  my  journeys 
without  all  the  inconvenience  of  detail  which  is  found  in  all 
voyagings  and  travellings.  Seated  in  my  quiet  chair,  in  my 
pleasant  solitude,  with  closed  eyes  I  look  back  over  all  the 
yesterdays,  reclimb  the  mountains  and  sail  again  on  the  silvery 
lakes,  and  move  again  with  might  and  quiet  serenity  to  the 
great  sea.  When  I  blow  the  trumpet  of  resurrection  in  the 
churchyard,  and  call  up  the  dear  lost  ones,  the  old  and  the  young, 
the  bright  and  the  sweet,  the  strong  and  the  patient,  then  am  I 
very  rich.  When  are  you,  dear  little  one,  richest  ?  When  you 
are  telling  me  what  you  are  going  to  do,  going  to  see,  going  to  be. 
It  is  the  doll  you  are  going  to  have  that  is  to  be  the  queen  of  all 
other  dolls.  It  is  the  sight  you  are  going  to  see  that  is  to  eclipse 
all  other  gaieties.  Just  now — nothing — a  mere  cobble-stone  in  a 
brook  that  may  topple  over.  But  all  my  wealth  lies  in  the  past, 
or  glows  in  anticipation,  and  “just  now  ”  is  always  the  poorest- 
time  in  any  history  that  is  worth  living. 

l(  Now  after  the  death  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord.” 
Does  God  let  his  servants  die  ?  Was  it  the  blame  of  Moses  that 
he  died,  or  is  his  death  to  be  credited  to  his  Lord  ?  Is  there  an 
appointed  time  to  men  upon  the  earth — is  there  just  a  little 
length  of  thread  that  is  long  enough  for  the  very  strongest  and 
wisest  of  us,  and  if  an  inch  were  added  our  past  would  be  put 
in  peril  as. well  as  our  future  ?  Are  things  set — are  there  fixed 
quantities  in  time,  age,  wealth,  talent,  power  ?  Everything  is 
weighed  out  and  measured  by  the  balances  and  standards  of  the 
Lord.  He  weighed  the  gold  dust  of  the  stars,  and  not  a  speck 
can  be  lost  upon  the  wind.  The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are 


54 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  .  1-9. 


all  numbered.  Not  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground  without  your 
Father.  He  is  a  severe  economist :  like  all  great  givers  he  is 
severely  critical  in  his  balances  and  results.  Only  the  spend¬ 
thrift  keeps  no  note-book  of  his  outgoings.  God  hath  a  book,  yea, 
many  a  book  hath  God,  for  when  he  had  opened  book  after 
book,  the  Apocalyptic  writer  says  then  he  opened  another  book 
wherein  was  set  down  everything.  Your  time  is  known  ;  you 
are  his  servant,  yet  he  will  call  you  into  rest.  He  doth  not  let 
us  die,  he  permits  us  to  live.  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in 
the  Lord,  for  they  rest  from  their  labours,  and  their  works  do 
follow  them.  I  heard  this  in  no  whisper ;  it  was  not  a  con¬ 
fidential  communication  made  to  me  :  I  heard  a  great  voice 
behind  me,  saying,  “  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the 
Lord,  .  .  .  that  they  may  rest ;  ”  I  knew  that  word  u  rest,”  I 
had  heard  it  before,  it  was  one  of  Christ’s  very  earliest,  sweetest 
notes,  for  he  said,  u  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.”  Dying  ones,  in  his  name, 
accept  his  hospitality,  and  go  forward  into  his  banqueting-house, 
quiet,  at  peace  for  evermore. 

What  will  the  Lord  do,  now  that  Moses  has  gone  ?  He  will 
be  put  to  sore  straits.  What  will  Omnipotence  do  now  that 
the  staff  in  his  hand  is  broken — can  he  make  another,  or  find 
one  more  ?  Does  he  create  a  Moses?  No,  he  elevates  a  Joshua. 
Fie  means  to  elevate  you  next :  be  ready ;  do  not  be  in  the  field 
when  he  calls  for  you  in  the  house. 

“  The  Lord  spake  unto  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  Moses’ 
minister,”  Moses’  servant.  Moses  was  the  servant  of  the  Lord, 
Joshua  was  the  servant  of  Moses,  and  thus  we  belong  to  one 
another.  He  has  no  higher  title  to  give.  Paul  and  Timotheus, 
slaves  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Paul,  the  servant  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Joshua  then  had  served  well,  and  he  was  called 
to  promotion.  “Thou  hast  been  faithful  over  few  things,  I  will 
make  thee  ruler  over  many  things,”  is  God’s  rule.  Thou  hast 
been  faithful  at  Jerusalem,  thou  shalt  see  Rome  also.  No 
metropolis  shall  shut  its  gates  in  thy  face  :  if  thou  hast  been 
faithful  in  the  little  villages  and  provincial  towns  and  minor 
capitals,  thou  shalt  surely  see  the  greatest  cities  and  the  loftiest 
places.  The  first  Napoleon  was  wont  to  say  no  man  could  rule 
wTell  who  could  not  serve  well.  If  you  are  unable  to  serve,  you 


Josh.  i.  1-9.]  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL. 


55 


are  unable  to  rule.  We  know  nothing  about  service  in  some  of 
its  severer  senses  in  our  common  civil  life.  Some  of  you  have 
been  under  masters  and  tutors  and  governors  :  you  know  what 
discipline  is — you  have  overgotten  the  infantile  period  of  con¬ 
troversy  and  questioning  and  reasoning :  you  have  learned  not 
to  reason  why,  but  to  do,  and,  if  need  be,  die.  You  are  going 
to  make  an  excellent  person,  I  believe,  in  the  course  of  about 
seven  years.  I  tell  you  you  will  not.  Shall  I  explain  my 
reason  for  that  discouraging  prediction  ?  It  is  that  you  were 
never  an  obedient  child.  You  cannot,  therefore,  unless  God 
repeat  his  miracle  of  making  you  over  again,  be  a  good  husband, 
or  wife,  or  head  of  a  business.  There  is  a  philosophy  in  these 
things  that  you  cannot  wriggle  out  of.  To  be  unused  to  service, 
unaccustomed  to  obedience,  is  to  be  utterly  unprepared  for  the 
responsibilities  of  the  house,  or  of  the  place  of  commerce,  the 
legislature,  or  the  church. 

Not  a  word  is  said  in  praise  of  Joshua.  How  then  do  we 
know  that  he  was  so  excellent  a  man  ?  Because  of  his  promotion 
to  succeed  Moses.  God  studieth,  to  use  a  human  phrase  for 
the  sake  of  our  littleness,  the  proportion,  measurement,  relation, 
of  one  thing  to  another.  He  who  put  the  stars  in  their  places 
knows  whom  to  call  to  high  succession.  To  have  called  Joshua 
to  this  place  is  to  have  endorsed  and  accredited  him  as  no 
merely  formal  testimonial  could  have  done.  My  friend,  young 
and  wondering,  anxious,  impetuous — wait :  there  cannot  be  two 
men  of  the  name  of  Moses,  and  of  the  weight  and  influence  of 
Moses,  at  the  same  time.  Give  the  first  man  his  full  opportunity 
— thy  day  will  come  by-and-by ;  be  ready  for  it,  enlarged  with 
all  the  nobleness  of  divine  inspiration  and  qualified  by  all  the 
patience  that  comes  of  obedience  to  the  discipline  of  Almighty 
love  and  wisdom. 

“The  Lord  spake  unto  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  saying,  Moses 
my  servant  is  dead.  Now  therefore  ...”  Why  say,  in  so 
many  words,  that  look  cold  in  this  dry  ink,  that  Moses  is  dead  ? 
It  needed  to  be  said.  Sometimes  we  need  to  have  told  us  the 
very  plainest  things  in  life  in  simple  strong  prose.  In  the  case  of 
Moses,  a  declaration  of  this  kind  was  particularly  needful.  Who 
knows  what  wonderings  and  speculations,  what  rash  conjectures, 
loolish  imaginings  and  vain  hopings  and  dreamings,  might  have 


5^ 


2 HE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  i.  1-9. 


come  out  of  the  disappearance  of  Moses,  but  for  this  plain  and 
undeniable  declaration  of  his  decease  ?  No  man  saw  him  die, 
no  man  closed  those  weary  eyes  with  gentle  fingers,  no  tender 
hand  stretched  out  those  poor  worn  limbs,  no  gentle  woman  or 
loving  child  planted  a  flower  on  that  high  mountain  grave.  God 
who  took  him  comes  back  from  Nebo  to  say,  “He  is  dead;  it  is 
over,  he  is  gone.  Now  therefore.  .  .  .  ”  At  this  point  one’s 
interest  becomes  intense.  We  say,  “After  Niagara?”  Then 
do  we  put  a  huge  mark  of  interrogation,  as  if  we  had  put  to 
the  world  a  question  which  has  no  answer.  So  when  I  began 
by  saying,  “  After  the  death  of  Moses,  what  ?  ”  I  felt  as  if 
any  reply  given  to  that  inquiry  would  be  unworthy  of  the 
occasion,  would  fall  flatly,  and  would  utterly  disappoint  and 
discourage  us.  We  have  now  come  to  the  place  wherein  the 
answer  is  found.  “Moses  my  servant  is  dead;  now  there¬ 
fore — sit  down  ;  bemoan  yourselves,  take  it  so  deeply  to  heart 
as  utterly  to  disqualify  your  energies  for  making  even  the 
feeblest  effort ;  it  is  no  use  your  endeavouring  to  propagate  a 
race  of  men  after  the  withdrawal  by  death  of  that  majestic 
leader  who  is  now  but  a  memory  — does  the  history  read  so  ? 
God  says,  “Moses  my  servant  is  dead,  now  therefore,  arise” — 
in  every  sense  of  the  word,  arise — to  nobler  manhood,  to  diviner 
power,  to  higher  conception,  to  nobler  endeavour,  to  more 
devoted  and  solemn  and  holy  attempt  to  do  God’s  will. 

That  is  what  you  have  to  do  now  that  your  dear  little  child 
is  dead.  I  found  you  with  handkerchief  pressed  to  streaming 
eyes,  sitting  down  as  if  your  bones  had  melted  like  heated  wax, 
and  you  could  do  no  more,  and  I  came  to  say  to  you,  “Arise, 
the  Master  is  come,  and  calleth  for  thee.”  That  is  what  you 
have  to  do  after  your  great  loss  in  business.  You  thought  to 
settle  down  into  nobody.  That  is  not  God’s  law  :  the  disaster  has 
come,  now  arise.  The  loss  has  taken  place,  the  table  is  clean 
swept,  not  a  shadow  of  the  golden  coin  can  be  found  on  the 
tessellated  table — now  therefore,  arise.  It  is  God’s  Gospel  to 
the  dejected,  it  is  God’s  medicine  for  those  who  suppose  them¬ 
selves  to  be  wounded  incurably.  Again  and  again  God  says, 
“  Look  up,  arise,  go  forward.”  And  he  always  does  this  in  the 
presence  of  great  loss,  whether  of  life  or  property.  This  he 
always  saj’s.  When  poor  Jacob  called  himself  a  worm,  and  took 


Josh.  i.  1-9.]  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL. 


57 


up  what  he  thought  his  appropriate  place  in  the  dust ;  when 
Zion  stripped  herself  of  her  white  mantle  and  sat  down  under 
the  shady  tree,  and  said,  “  God  hath  forgotten  to  be  gracious  ” — 
when  she  held  her  fair  head  far  down  into  the  dust  which  she 
thought  too  good  for  one  so  dispossessed  and  disennobled,  God 
found  her  so,  and  what  said  he  ?  “  Lift  up  your  eyes  on  high, 

and  behold  who  hath  created  these  things.”  The  straightening  of 
the  neck  will  do  thee  good — a  walk  out  into  the  living  air  will 
help  to  heal  thee.  Looking  down  does  no  man  good.  Looking  up 
and  looking  abroad,  arising  and  going  forward,  elevating  and 
arousing  exertions,  are  God’s  answers  to  the  dejection,  the  self¬ 
limitation  of  man. 

“  Arise  and  go  over  this  Jordan.”  How  seldom  we  are 
allowed  to  finish  our  work.  It  seems  as  if  we  could  die  more 
happily  upon  the  other  side  of  the  river  than  upon  this  side. 
Only  let  me  build  my  church,  finish  my  house,  complete  my 
plan,  lay  out  my  grounds,  see  the  youngest  trees  flourishing  into 
maturity — only  let  me  see  my  children  all  attaining  the  age  of 
manhood  and  womanhood  and  settled  in  life,  and  then  I  can,  I 
think,  die  comfortably.  This  our  weak  speech,  this  our  staggering 
eloquence,  this  our  halting  argument,  before  him  who  carrieth  us 
in  his  arms,  who  sets  us  down  and  takes  us  up  as  it  pleaseth 
him,  and  who  is  unrestrained  in  the  high  heavens  and  in  the  deep 
places  where  the  lake  of  fire  is  and  where  all  darkness  dwells. 

“  As  I  was  with  Moses,  so  I  will  be  with  thee.”  God  quotes 
himself :  whom  else  can  he  quote  ?  As — so.  History  repeats 
itself,  God  repeats  himself.  ,  I  know  not  of  any  clearer  and 
fuller  vindication  of  himself  as  to  his  providential  care  and 
dealing  than  is  to  be  found  in  this  very  expression.  Observe  to 
whom  it  was  addressed.  To  a  man  who  had  actually  seen  God’s 
way  with  Moses.  He  is  not  invited  to  meet  a  providence  unde¬ 
clared  and  mysterious,  he  is  asked  to  accept  a  repetition  of 
that  which  has  passed  before  his  own  eyes,  and  impinged  most 
closely  upon  his  own  consciousness  and  experience.  Does  God 
say,  “  I  was  but  a  little  with  Moses,  I  will  be  much  with  thee — 
I  will  do  much  more  for  Joshua  than  ever  I  did  for  Moses”? 
Does  he  tempt  him  by  some  unmeasured  and  enormous  bribe  ? 
The  expression  is,  “As — so.”  As  was  the  past,  so  will  be  the 
future.  God’s  repetitions  are  creations.  Miracles  of  providence 


5« 


t 


[Josh.  i.  1-9. 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


never  lose  their  fascination  and  their  value.  This  is  God’s  voice 
to  us  to-day — as  he  was  with  the  fathers,  so  will  he  be  with  the 
children.  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.  He  is 
the  same  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  for  ever.  The  heavens 
become  aged,  and  the  stars  stagger  in  their  journeys,  yea,  the  Lord 
doth  fold  up  that  great  blue  firmament  like  a  garment  outworn, 
and  put  it  away,  but  he  is  the  same,  and  his  years  fail  not.  A 
thousand  years  are  in  his  sight  as  one  day,  and  one  day  is  as  a 
thousand  years.  Lie  says,  11 1  am  the  Lord,  I  change  not.”  So 
when  he  comes  to  speak  to  us  he  repeats  himself.  He  quotes 
no  other  authority ;  he  signs  the  same  sign  manual,  stamps  the 
book  with  the  same  great  seal ;  his  promises  are  yea  and  amen, 
repeating  themselves  like  the  seasons,  constant,  yet  ever  new ; 
old  as  eternity,  yet  fresh  as  the  morning  just  being  born  in  the 
flush  and  hope  of  a  new  dawn. 

We  have  then  God’s  Book  to  guide  us  and  show  us  precisely 
what  he  has  for  us,  and  what  he  can  do  for  our  life.  Why 
dost  thou  dream,  O  poor  mystic,  why  dost  thou  wonder  what 
God  will  do  on  the  morrow  ?  Thou  hast  all  his  yesterdays  in 
human  history  to  go  back  upon,  and  his  expression  to  thee  is, 
“  As — so.  As  I  was  with  Moses,  so  will  I  be  with  thee  :  I  will 
not  fail  thee  nor  forsake  thee.”  See  him  giving  his  omnipotence 
in  pledge  to  a  poor  startled  secretarial  servant  of  the  dead 
Moses ;  see  him  taking  up  in  his  great  arms  the  garment  of 
his  own  almightiness  and  covering  with  it  the  shoulders  of  this 
newly-appointed  leader.  That  garment  is  large  enough  for  us, 
that  almightiness  is  sufficient  to  our  daily  distresses  and  per¬ 
petual  wants.  What  time  I  am  afraid  I  will  trust  in  God,  yea, 
when  the  enemy  secretly  pursueth  me  I  will  run  into  God’s 
almightiness  as  into  a  great  tower,  and  there  will  I  sit  down  till 
the  pursuer  weary  himself  with  beating  the  air.  All  God’s 
promises  are  before  men  :  he  writes  in  no  new  ink  :  he  asks  for 
no  new  hand  that  he  may  dictate  a  new  and  ampler  revelation. 
It  is  “As — so.”  Moses — Joshua.  John — Paul.  A  repetition 
without  weariness,  a  reduplication  that  startles  by  its  originality. 

That  is  all  ?  No.  “  Be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage.  .  .  . 
Only  be  thou  strong  and  very  courageous.”  There  is  something 
for  man  to  do.  God’s  almightiness  is  sent  to  us  as  a  pledge,  not 
that  it  may  do  everything  for  us,  but  that  it  may  awaken  our 


* 


Josh.  i.  1-9.]  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  CALL . 


59 


strength  and  call  up  every  energy  we  possess,  and  consecrate  it 
to  the  high  and  solemn  service  of  the  great  Lord.  Awake, 
awake,  put  on  thy  strength,  O  Zion,  put  on  thy  beautiful 
garments,  O  thou  beloved  of  the  Lord.  Only  be  thou  strong 
and  very  courageous  :  do  thy  little  best ;  if  thou  canst  not  fly, 
flutter ;  if  thou  canst  not  run,  crawl.  He  will  make  it  all  up  to 
thee,  only  do  thy  little  share.  It  hath  pleased  God  to  adopt  the 
great  principle  of  co-operation  in  administering  the  affairs  of  the 
lower  courts  of  his  universe.  This  book  of  the  law  shall  not 
depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  but  thou  shalt  meditate  therein  day  and 
night.  Man  is  not  to  trust  to  his  own  genius,  nor  is  he  thrown 
back  upon  his  own  resources  in  the  high  vocations  of  life.  We 
are  not  allowed  to  live  upon  the  empty  pittance  and  miserable 
inheritance  of  our  own  wit.  There  is  written  for  us  a  Word, 
deep,  large,  loving,  clear,  accessible,  and  we  must  continually 
meditate  therein.  Beautiful  words,  and  full  of  meaning.  Some 
of  the  print  in  God’s  book  I  can  see  best  by  day,  other  of  the 
book  I  can  read  most  clearly  by  night.  Can  I  tell  how  this 
is  ?  It  is  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  explain  it,  but  I  see 
angels  at  night  :  they  do  not  come  out  in  the  garish  white  light 
of  the  mid-day,  but  I  have  seen  troops  of  them  in  the  dusk — I 
have  heard  many  a  voice  not  otherwise  articulate  in  the  deep 
watches  of  the  night.  God  does  great  wonders  in  the  dark¬ 
ness  :  the  darkness  and  the  light  are  both  alike  unto  him.  You 
never  knew  the  meaning  of  “  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God  ” 
until  you  read  those  words  in  the  night  of  your  great  loneliness. 
Then  you  saw  what  priest  and  presbyter  never  could  explain, 
what  had  eluded  the  touch  of  the  most  diligent  annotator  :  you 
saw  God’s  meaning,  yea,  you  saw  his  great  outstretched  gentle 
arms  taking  up  the  very  thing  he  was  blessing. 

So  it  is  through  and  through  life.  Every  heart  must  make  its 
own  application  of  this  great  lesson  :  some  part  of  the  book  is  best 
read  by  day,  some  is  most  clearly  seen  by  night.  God’s  book  is 
a  book  that  cannot  be  exhausted  either  in  the  day  or  in  the 
night.  It  needs  the  sun  and  the  moon  and  every  star  of  the 
firmament,  candles  of  glory  lighted  by  hands  divine  to  see  its 
deep,  its  infinite  meaning.  Poor,  poor  fool,  thou  didst  say  thou 


6o 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  i.  1-9. 


hadst  read  the  Bible  through  and  through  :  rather  thou  didst 
mean,  if  thou  wilt  let  wisdom  speak  and  love  interpret,  that  thou 
hast  begun  to  read,  and  that  thou  art  still  stumbling  over  the  first 
lines ;  or  if  thou  art  at  all  restful,  it  is  with  a  great  amaze,  a 
solemn  and  glad  wonder,  because  the  Paradise  grows  upon  thee, 
and  thou  canst  not  move  yet,  because  of  the  ever-deepening 
fascination  of  the  immortal  beauty. 

Now,  faint-hearted  ones,  let  us  repent  and  believe.  If  all  the 
great  men,  as  we  think,  are  dead,  it  is  that  others  may  take 
their  places.  Whose  place  are  you  going  to  take  ?  Who  will 
be  baptised  for  the  dead  ?  This  may  be  an  awakening  time  for 
aught  I  know:  it  is  a  solemn  hour;  there  is  a  stillness  in  it 
which  may  prelude  a  great  resurrection  of  intellectual  and 
spiritual  energy  and  a  great  solemn  consecration  of  personal 
powers  and  possessions  to  the  service  of  the  God  of  Moses. 
The  great  merchant  in  the  city  is  dead :  arise !  The  great 
political  leader  is  dead  :  arise !  The  great  preacher  is  dead : 
arise !  Whose  place  will  you  take  ?  There  are  a  thousand 
vacancies  to-day  in  the  great  gallery  historical ;  which  of  the 
places  will  you  take  ?  Are  you  waiting  until  God  has  spoken 
to  you  ?  He  speaks  to  you  now.  What  are  you  ready  for  ? 
Anything  ?  That  is  the  right  spirit.  Any  time  ?  That  is  the 
right  answer.  In  whose  strength  will  you  come — in  Christ’s? 
It  is  sufficient,  even  to  redundance  and  infinite  overflow.  Hast 
thou  set  thyself  to  some  part  of  God’s  work  ? — only  be  strong 
and  very  courageous  :  keep  close  to  the  book :  by  day  read  it, 
by  night  spell  it — close,  close,  close  to  the  book  ;  and  as  for 
those  who  would  stand  before  thee,  they  shall  be  melted  like 
wax  in  the  fire;  yea,  as  fences  of  stubble  before  the  conflagra¬ 
tion  of  the  presence  of  God  in  the  life. 

Oh  for  a  Church  alive,  with  its  beautiful  garments  on  its 
shoulders,  and  all  its  powers  throbbing  like  an  eternal  pulse  ! 
Then  our  presence  would  be  felt  in  the  city,  in  the  village, 
everywhere,  and  our  presence  would  not  be  seen,  because  of 
the  lustre  of  Him  whose  we  are  and  whom  we  serve. 


PRAYER. 


Oh,  how  patient  is  the  Lord  !  how  tender  is  his  mercy  !  how  loving  is  his 
kindness  !  We  are  amazed  with  a  great  amazement,  and  our  hearts  are  filled 
with  thankfulness.  Our  steps  are  guided  by  the  Lord,  and  our  hairs  are 
numbered  by  him,  and  there  is  nothing  that  concerns  us  too  little  for  his 
notice  and  his  care.  This  is  the  faith  in  which  we  live,  and  it  makes  us 
strong  and  glad,  and  gives  us  brightness  of  hope  and  fulness  of  resort  in  all 
the  difficulties  and  perils  of  life.  This  faith  we  have  proved.  We  are  our¬ 
selves  living  witnesses  of  this  nearness  of  the  divine  hand  and  this  interest 
of  the  divine  eye.  We  have  been  low  down,  and  we  have  been  lifted  up  ; 
we  have  been  in  great  distress  and  have  not  known  which  way  to  turn,  but 
the  Lord  hath  held  a  light  before,  and  come  close  to  us  and  said,  This  is  the 
way  :  walk  ye  in  it.  We  cannot  contradict  ourselves  :  we  cannot  put  down 
the  testimony  of  a  lifetime  ;  the  writing  is  thine,  the  voice  is  thine, — the 
praise  be  thine,  thou  glorious  Christ !  We  look  back  and  see  thee  now 
as  we  did  not  see  thee  once.  The  cloud  became  a  night,  and  in  the  night 
no  star  trembled  :  the  burden  was  very  heavy,  and  our  eyes  poured  out 
rivers  of  tears,  and  in  all  the  agony  we  caught  the  mocker’s  tone  gibing  us 
about  our  God  and  our  faith  ;  but  we  see  all  now  :  it  was  well,  it  was  best ; 
the  grave  was  right,  the  burden  was  none  too  heavy,  and  the  way,  though 
often  crooked  and  invisible,  was  leading  on  to  Canaan,  to  rest,  to  mother¬ 
land,  where  there  is  no  night,  no  death.  We  delight  to  look  back,  for  the 
prophets  are  there,  and  the  minstrels  who  cheered  us  in  the  night-time. 
Our  life,  too,  has  its  Old  Testament, — its  Pentateuch,  its  moving  histories,  its 
painful  tragedies,  its  psalms  so  noble,  its  songs  so  tender,  and  its  prophecy — 
the  outlook  and  the  forecast  of  faith  ; — behold,  we  cannot  give  up  these  : 
they  are  thine,  and  the  book  is  sealed  by  thine  hand.  So,  too,  has  our  life 
its  New  Testament:  its  birth  in  Bethlehem,  its  wondrous  teacher,  its 
worker  of  great  miracles,  its  marvellous  speaker — we  wonder  at  the 
gracious  words  which  proceed  out  of  his  mouth — and  its  cross,  its  priest,  its 
redemption ; — wondrous  is  this  life,  and  it  is  the  writing  of  God.  Help  us 
to  read  well,  to  think  deeply,  to  answer  thee  instantaneously  with  all  the 
swiftness  of  eager  love  ;  then  when  what  we  call  the  end  comes,  it  shall  be 
no  end  but  a  beginning,  bright  as  morning,  warm  as  summer.  Amen. 

Joshua  i.  10-15. 

10.  Then  Joshua  commanded  the  officers  of  the  people,  saying, 

11.  Pass  through  the  host,  and  command  the  people,  saying,  Prepare  you 
victuals  ;  for  within  three  days  ye  shall  pass  over  this  Jordan,  to  go  in  to 
possess  the  land,  which  the  Lord  your  God  giveth  you  to  possess  it. 


6  2 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  i.  10-15. 


12.  And  to  the  Reubenites,  and  to  the  Gadites,  and  to  half  the  tribe  of 
Mana^seh,  spake  Joshua,  saying, 

13.  Remember  the  word  which  Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord  commanded 
you,  saying,  The  Lord  your  God  hath  given  you  rest,  and  hath  given  you 
this  land. 

14.  Your  wives,  your  little  ones,  and  your  cattle,  shall  remain  in  the  land 
which  Moses  gave  you  on  this  side  Jordan;  but  ye  shall  pass  before  your 
brethren  armed,  all  the  mighty  men  of  valour  and  help  them ; 

15.  Until  the  Lord  have  given  your  brethren  rest,  as  he  hath  given  you, 
and  they  also  have  possessed  the  land  which  the  Lord  your  God  giveth 
them  :  then  ye  shall  return  unto  the  land  of  your  possession,  and  enjoy  it, 
which  Moses  the  Lord’s  servant  gave  you  on  this  side  Jordan  toward  the 
sunrising. 


ASPECTS  OF  HUMAN  CHARACTER. 

HESE  opening  paragraphs  present  Joshua  in  several  in- 


X  teresting  aspects,  which  we  may  profitably  consider  and 
personally  apply  :  for  there  is  nothing  old  in  them,  in  the 
sense  of  outwornness ;  what  is  old  in  them  is  old  in  the 
sense  of  venerableness,  ascertained  reality,  enduring  energy 


and  virtue.  In  that  sense  we  must  never  give  up  what  is 


old.  Whatever  is  effete,  exhausted,  evidently  done,  you  may 
shake  off  into  forgetfulness,  because  however  good  it  once 
was,  it  has  served  its  time,  and  the  age  longs  for  some  new 
inspiration,  and  clearer,  broader,  direction  and  guidance. 

First  of  all,  Joshua  comes  before  us  as  a  man  with  great 
official  antecedents.  He  does  not  succeed  a  little  man  :  he 
begins  what,  from  the  human  point  of  view,  is  a  rivalry  that 
will  strain  his  energy  and  test  his  quality.  Men  cannot  go 
from  a  leader  like  Moses  and  follow  some  inferior  personage, 
as  if  he  filled  up  all  the  space  and  represented  what  was 
necessary  to  satisfy  the  heart’s  hunger.  This  web  cannot  be 
continued,  as  to  the  weaving  of  it,  by  an  apprenticed  and  un¬ 
skilled  hand.  Our  call  is  precisely  the  same. 

Every  age  succeeds  an  age  marked  by  greatness  peculiarly 
its  own.  We  are  born  now  into  a  grand  civilisation ;  it 
admits  of  no  indolence,  or  reluctance  as  to  work,  and  it  can¬ 
not  be  satisfied  by  what  is  petty,  perfunctory,  and  inexpensive 
as  to  the  strength  which  is  laid  out  upon  it.  History  brings 
its  responsibilities.  To  be  born  immediately  after  such  and 
such  leaders  have  played  their  part  in  the  world’s  theatre  is 
itself  to  have  a  cross  of  no  mean  weight  laid  upon  the 


josh.  i.  10-15.]  ASPECTS  OF  HUMAN  CHARA  CTER.  63 


shoulder.  We  may  close  our  eyes  and  think  nothing  about 
these  things,  but  we  do  not  thereby  make  them  the  less  reali¬ 
ties,  nor  do  we  thereby  destroy  the  standard  of  judgment 
which  they  force  upon  us  and  by  which  our  life  will  be 
tested.  To  close  the  eyes  is  to  play  a  foolish  part.  Every 
man  should  say,  Whom  do  I  succeed  ?  Whose  are  these  foot¬ 
prints  near  the  place  whereon  I  stand  ?  Has  a  giant  been  here 
— a  great  leader,  a  noble  sufferer,  a  patient  student,  a  father 
great  in  love,  a  mother  greater  still  ? — then  my  responsibility 
begins  with  their  greatness  and  goodness ;  what  I  have  to  do 
— the  soliloquist  should  say — is  to  go  on :  where  they  have 
been  great,  I  must  try  to  be  greater  still, — or  if  not  along 
their  line,  along  some  line  of  my  own, — so  that  the  ages  may 
not  stagger  backwards  but  with  steadiness  and  majesty  of 
strength  advance  from  one  degree  to  another  as  the  light  in¬ 
creases  to  the  perfect  day.  Thus  we  honour  our  ancestors ; 
thus  we  bury  Moses — not  in  the  grave  of  forgetfulness,  but 
by  turning  his  strength,  wisdom,  patience,  foresight,  and  energy 
into  elements  which  contribute  to  the  sustenance  and  ennobling 
of  our  manhood.  Now  it  has  come  to  pass  that  every  man 
is  in  a  great  historical  succession.  That  succession  may  not 
localise  itself  in  his  particular  family,  but  we  do  not  live  within 
the  four  corners  of  a  measurable  house  :  we  are  citizens  of 
the  world  ;  whatever  was  done  in  the  past  was  done  for  our 
sakes,  upon  whom  the  end  of  time  has  come — for  every  age 
has  an  end  of  time  to  itself :  every  age  must  look  for  the 
Lord  and  say — He  will  be  here  present  at  midnight — at  the 
crowing  of  the  cock,  ere  the  dawn  has  time  to  whiten  the 
east  and  purple  the  mist-shrouded  hills.  Be  ready !  watch ! 
Let  those  who  have  wives  be  as  if  they  had  none ;  let 
those  who  have  fields  ready  for  reaping  be  as  if  they  had 
none ;  his  chariot-wheels  are  sounding  :  he  will  be  here  to¬ 
day — to-morrow :  in  that  expectation  we  should  live !  It  is  in 
vain  to  say  it  is  not  realised  in  what  we  call  localisation,  or 
narrow  fact  :  he  comes  when  he  moves  our  heart  to  an 
expectation  of  his  coming ;  he  descends  upon  us  when  he  so 
ennobles  our  prayer  as  to  make  us  feel  more  in  heaven  than 
on  earth.  So  we  have  a  great  past ;  and  that  great  past  creates 
a  solemn  present,  and  forecasts  a  brilliant  future,  and  clothes 


64 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE .  [Josh.  i.  10-15. 


all  life  with  responsibility  and  honour.  So  far,  there  is  nothing 
old  in  the  story  of  the  soldier-prophet :  he  followed  a  great 
man ;  we  follow  men  also  great. 

In  the  next  place,  we  find  Joshua  as  a  man  with  a  definite 
purpose, — a  purpose  which  Moses  could  not  have  carried  out. 
One  man  completes  the  work  of  another.  Moses  was  a  legislator: 
Joshua  was  a  soldier, — in  every  line  of  his  story  the  soldier  is 
evident.  How  he  listens ;  how  acute  his  attention ;  look  at 
him — he  is  all  ear!  Nothing  can  miss  the  observation  of  a  man 
who  looks  like  that  when  a  voice  from  heaven  speaks  to  him. 
He  asks  no  questions,  raises  no  difficulties ;  he  receives  hi 
marching-orders,  and  rises.  The  soldier  is  born  in  the  man— 
not  the  petty  fighter,  not  the  pugnacious  aggressor  and  self¬ 
promoter,  but  the  valiant  man,  the  heroic  man,  the  man  who  sees 
only  the  purpose  and  hears  only  the  command,  who  has  no  ear 
for  objection,  but  a  great  capacity  for  inspiration.  This  is  the 
secret  of  strength.  Joshua  did  not  attempt  a  hundred  things  : 
he  consecrated  his  strength,  for  he  had  for  the  time  being  only 
one  thing  to  do.  What  is  there  old  in  this  state  of  affairs  ? 
Nothing  that  need  awaken  our  contempt,  or  content  us  in  our 
disregard.  Why  do  not  men  succeed  to-day  ?  Often  because 
they  have  no  purpose,  and  not  seldom  because  they  have  more 
purposes  than  one.  To  have  a  hundred  purposes  may  be  to 
have  no  purpose  at  all.  Some  men  run  away  in  multiplicity  of 
vocation  :  they  diffuse  themselves,  and  by  unwise  attenuation 
their  strength  is  gone,  and  when  they  strike  they  miss  the  object 
of  their  blow  or  smite  it  with  a  feeble  hand.  Every  man  should 
ask  himself,  what  is  my  purpose  in  life  ?  What  have  I  to  do  ? 
Am  I  prophet  or  soldier  or  minstrel  ?  Am  I  commander  or 
servant?  Is  it  mine  to  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  or 
mine  to  be  diligent  in  heaven’s  light  and  make  some  corner  oi 
the  earth  greener  and  happier  than  it  was  before  ?  That  question 
may  be  put  by  every  one,  by  the  simplest  and  obscurest.  Blessed 
is  that  servant  who  is  found  waiting,  watching,  doing  the  work 
of  the  moment,  and  satisfied  with  it  because  it  is  preparing  him 
for  some  larger  duty  yet  to  be  disclosed.  How  criminal  it  is  to 
fritter  away  strength ;  how  often  we  hear  the  moan  of  old  age 
to  the  effect :  Had  I  but  pursued  one  definite  line  for  the  last 


Josh.  i.  10-15.]  ASPECTS  OP  HUMAN  CHAPA  CTER.  65 


twenty  years,  had  I  but  been  constant  to  the  thing  I  could  do, 
without  making  experiments  in  things  I  could  not  do,  how  dif¬ 
ferent  would  have  been  my  lot  to-day ;  but  I  was  here  and  there 
and  yonder;  I  ran  with  the  crowd,  I  scattered  my  power,  and 
to-day  I  have  nothing  to  show  ;  I  have  been  a  truant, — a  runner 
after  bubbles  that  gleamed  in  the  air  and  which,  had  I  caught 
them,  would  have  fallen  to  nothingness  in  my  grasp.  Why  not 
learn  from  that  moan  ?  Why  not  vow  to  be  some  one  thing, 
to  pursue  that  one  thing  steadily  ?  And  why  not  vow  especially 
to  keep  within  the  line  of  your  obvious  talent  ? — along  that  line 
you  will  find  honour  and  restfulness  and  gladness  of  heart :  it  is 
enough  for  you.  Few  are  the  men  that  can  take  up  more  lines 
than  one.  He  who  is  faithful  in  the  least  shall  be  promoted  to 
rulership,  and  shall  be  surprised  that  steady  regard  for  one  object 
in  life  has  secretly  and  unconsciously  prepared  the  industrious 
servant  for  the  rulership  of  five  cities,  or  ten.  Power  grows, 
capacity  enlarges ;  thou  knowest  not  how. 

* 

In  the  third  place,  Joshua  comes  before  us  as  a  man  with 
a  divine  qualification.  God  11  spake  ”  to  him.  God  promises, 
not  to  “fail”  him  : — “As  I  was  with  Moses,  so  I  will  be  with 
thee:  I  will  not  fail  thee  nor  forsake  thee”  (v.  5).  What, 
did  God  want  in  return  ?  Cheerfulness  : — Be  strong  and  of  a 
good  courage.  .  .  .  Only  be  thou  strong  and  very  courageous  .  .  . 
turn  not  ...  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,” — be  strong, 
and  of  a  good  heart.  So  Joshua  did  not  go  to  war  at  his. 
own  charges.  Is  there  anything  old  and  outworn  in  that  happy 
reflection  ?  Inspiration  cannot  cease  until  the  Holy  Ghost 
expires.  It  is  the  very  function  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  inspire 
without  that  function  he  has,  so  to  say,  no  mission  amongst 
men;  the  very  fact  of  his  being  the  Spirit  of  God  invests  him 
with  the  continual  prerogative  to  inspire  and  qualify  his 
Church.  We  may  all  be  divinely  qualified ;  and  unless  we  are 
so  qualified  our  work  ends  in  a  cloud  blown  away  by  the 
veering  wind.  u  If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God, 
that  g^veth  to  all  men  liberally,  and  upbraideth  not.”  “  If  ye 
being  evil  ” — broken-minded,  dim  of  eye,  and  feeble  altogether — 
“  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much 
more  ” — what  a  challenge  to  the  contemplation  and  measurement 

VOL.  v.  5 


66 


‘I  HE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  i.  10-15. 


of  magnitude  ! — “  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  give  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  them  that  ask  him.”  “  Ye 
have  not  because  ye  ask  not,  or  because  ye  ask  amiss.”  There 
is  nothing  that  a  man  can  do  of  his  own  strength.  Inspiration 
must  not  be  confined  to  what  is  too  narrowly  called  the  Church. 
No  man  can  go  forth  to  his  labour  to  do  it  with  real  skill  and 
with  pureness  of  motive  without  being  divinely  qualified.  He 
who  handles  the  graving-tool  handles  it  with  fingers  God  made, 
and  uses  metal  which  God  created  in  the  earth.  We  must  not 
have  a  Church  God,  a  Sabbath  deity,  an  altar  available  only  one 
day  in  the  week  :  we  must  live  and  move  and  have  our  being  in 
God.  The  Lord  inspires  the  letter- writer,  the  reader,  the  father, 
the  merchant,  the  poorest  labourer  in  the  poorest  sphere.  Are 
the  insects  not  regarded  ?  Does  a  worm  move  in  the  mould 
apart  from  the  eternal  throne?  “The  earth  is  the  Lord’s,  and 
the  fulness  thereof;”  and  if  any  man  has  arisen  to  mark  off  the 
world  into  “  sacred  ”  and  “secular,”  “  religious”  and  “profane,” 
he  has  not  studied  geography  in  -God’s  sanctuary.  Let  us,  then, 
seek  divine  qualification  that  we  may  do  our  poorest  work  well 
and  treat  our  one  talent  as  if  it  were  a  thousand,  for  if  the  talents 
be  few  in  number  they  determine  the  consequent  responsibility, 
— only  “  be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage ;  ”  “  only  be  thou 
strong” — we  read  again — “and  very  courageous,” — rise  to  the 
work,  take  pleasure  in  it ;  if  you  do  the  work  as  an  addition  to 
something  else  of  a  different  quality,  what  wonder  if  it  be  a 
joyless  task  and  if  the  reluctant  heart  has  only  one  prayer — 
prayer  for  eventide  and  release  from  toil  ?  The  Church  is 
lacking  in  courage  :  she  allows  every  one  who  pleases  to  arise 
and  insult  her;  she  soon  loses  heart;  she  says — The  enemy 
is  too  strong  for  me  :  I  will  keep  within  doors.  So  saying,  what 
has  she  lost?  A  comprehensive  and  just  sense  of  her  mission  ; 
— she  has  lost  God  ! 

What  does  all  this  issue  in  but  in  divinely-promised  and 
divinely-guaranteed  success.  “Thou  shalt  make  thy  way  pros¬ 
perous.  .  .  .  Thou  shalt  have  good  success.  ...  Be  not  afraid, 
neither  be  thou  dismayed.”  .  .  .  “Only  be  thou  strong  and  very 
courageous.”  Let  the  youngest  student  hear  this  word  and  obey 
it.  Take  heart  again,  if  you  are  weary  tor  the  moment,  rest 


Josh.  i.  10-15.]  ASPECTS  OF  HUMAN  CHARACTER.  67 


awhile.  Do  not  abandon  the  study  :  to-morrow  you  will  come 
to  it  with  a  conqueror’s  heart ;  the  pages  will  almost  turn  over 
of  themselves,  and  he  who  wrote  the  difficult  lines  will  annotate 
them  and  turn  them  into  gracious  simplicity, — 11  only  be  thou 
strong  and  very  courageous.”  The  meaning  is  that  you  may  rest, 
sit  down  awhile,  recover  strength  :  but  whilst  expending  your 
energy  you  need  not  surrender  your  courage.  Hope  wins ; 
gladness  conquers  ;  confidence  in  God  beats  down  the  mountains 
and  lifts  up  the  places  that  are  below  the  valley.  These  are 
the  guarantees  of  success.  The  issue  will  be  good.  Virtue,  it 
is  proverbially  known,  is  its  own  reward.  There  is  a  mystery 
about  this  which  the  heart  knows  full  well.  Being  busy  in  the 
right  way,  how  the  time  flies !  There  is  no  time  to  the  truly- 
inspired  worker ;  he  has  but  one  complaint  which  he  translates 
in  some  such  words  as — How  short  the  day  is  !  It  is  no  sooner 
dawn  than  it  is  evening  !  How  have  the  hours  flown  away  !  What 
is  the  voice  of  the  sluggard  in  regard  to  this  same  matter  of  time  ? 
— a  voice  of  complaint :  the  hours  are  leaden-footed  :  they  will  not 
move,  they  are  a  burden  ;  and  the  heart  dies  for  want  of  what  is 
called  excitement.  True  work  brings  its  own  heaven  with  it. 
The  true  toiler  lifts  up  his  head  from  his  task,  saying — I  began  it 
in  God’s  strength,  I  have  carried  it  on  in  divine  energy,  and  I  am 
only  sorry  that  I  cannot  do  more  of  it  and  do  it  better, — God 
permit  that  to-morrow  may  be  as  this  day  and  more  abundant. 
Christian  workers  all  bear  this  testimony  ;  there  is  no  break  or 
flaw  in  the  massive  and  noble  witness.  All  history  testifies  that 
to  serve  God  is  already  to  enter  into  rest. 

Whilst  Joshua  comes  before  us  so,  there  is  an  aspect  or  two  in 
which  the  divine  Being  presents  himself  worthy  of  our  notice. 
He  comes  before  us  in  this  record  as  removing  men.  He  said 
unto  Moses — Your  work  is  done.  It  is  for  him  to  say  when  the 
tale  has  been  completed.  Is  there  not  an  appointed  time  to 
man  upon  earth  ?  Is  there  not  a  dial  by  which  the  shadow  makes 
known  to  men  when  the  evening  approacheth  ?  We  are  all 
immortal  until  our  work  is  done.  Do  not  fret  yourselves  about 
the  latter  end, — let  it  come  in  God’s  time.  To  die  now  in  the 
fulness  of  your  strength  and  hope  would  be  indeed  a  species  of 
murder,  but  you  will  be  led  gently  down  the  easy  slope,  step  by 


68 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  i.  10-15. 


step,  little  by  little,  until  you  say,  “  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy 
servant  depart  in  peace  ;  I  have  a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with 
Christ ;  I  want  to  sleep, — I  long  to  see  the  upper  world.”  Do 
not  be  in  bondage  all  your  lifetime  through  fear  of  death.  When 
death  does  come  to  the  true  Christian  worker  and  waiter,  it 
will  come  as  a  veiled  angel ;  and  when  you  are  shut  up  together 
in  the  chamber  you  will  have  sweet  converse  and  call  the 

interview  the  beginning  of  heaven. 

/ 

God  comes  before  us  as  explaining  his  own  method  towards 
man.  Canaan  was  promised  as  a  gift, — and  now  it  must  be 
fought  for !  Long  ago  we  heard  that  this  land  was  to  be 
presented, — and  now  as  the  history  evolves  we  find  that  it  is  to 
be  conquered  !  This  is  the  divine  method  in  all  things.  “  I  will 
give  thee,”  is  the  one  word  ;  “  rise  and  do  battle,”  is  the  com¬ 
pleting  word.  We  value  what  we  labour  for;  we  treat  with 
contemptuous  disregard  that  which  costs  us  nothing.  We  enter 
into  rest  by  the  gate  of  labour.  We  enjoy  Canaan  because  we 
have  toiled  after  a  divine  manner  for  it.  So  with  heaven  :  it  will 
come  as  a  kind  of  reward  for  industry  and  labour,  faith  and  love, 
prayer  and  patience.  u  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant : 
thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler 
over  many  things.”  It  will  seem  as  if  the  Lord  had  permitted  us 
to  fight  our  way  to  heaven  and  to  have  won  it  by  dint  of  valour. 
Nor  do  we  claim  any  merit  herein,  or  look  upon  heaven  as  a 
prize  for  superior  strength.  It  pleases  the  Lord  to  accommodate 
himself  to  our  modes  of  expression  :  so  we  shall  have  as  a  reward 
what  we  could  not  have  obtained  as  the  result  of  labour :  our  faith 
will  be  credited  with  the  miracles  which  were  wrought  solely  by 
divine  grace ;  rulership  will  be  given  as  a  prize  when  it  never 
could  have  been  won  as  a  reward.  We  need  have  no  fear  of 
corrupting  the  mind  upon  these  questions,  and  so  bedimming  our 
vision  as  to  lose  full,  clear  sight  of  the  divine  glory.  What  we 
have  to  remember  is  this  :  God  is  king ;  God  is  the  source  of 
inspiration ;  God  calls  whom  he  will  to  such  and  such  offices : 
the  distribution  of  honour  and  place  is  with  God,  but  he  called  all 
Israel  to  the  land,  to  its  possession  and  enjoyment ;  they  were  not 
all  equal  to  Moses,  they  were  not  all  equal  to  Joshua,  they  were 
net  all  commanders  and  mighty  men,  but  the  wise  wife  and  the 


Josh.  i.  10-15.]  ASPECTS  OF  HUMAN  CHAPA  C2FR.  69 


little  ones  and  the  whole  host  were  all  regarded  by  the  divine 
love.  So  it  is  in  the  greater  scheme  of  things  divine  which  we 
call  Providence,  or  by  the  nobler  name  of  Redemption.  We  are 
not  all  called  to  bear  the  mantle  of  Elijah,  or  to  play  upon  the 
harp  of  David,  or  to  sing  in  the  lofty  strains  of  Isaiah,  or  to  see 
the  mystic  symbolism  of  Ezekiel ;  we  cannot  argue  like  Paul,  or 
love  like  John,  or  pray  like  Peter.  Some  are  called  to  high 
places  and  to  great  honour,  and  are  clothed  with  responsibility  as 
with  a  garment,  but,  blessed  be  God,  whilst  there  can  be  but  few 
leaders,  few  commanders,  few  prophets  and  poets  and  legislators, 
the  great  call  of  God  is  to  every  man  under  heaven  : — “  He  that 
believeth  shall  be  saved  ;  ”  u  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and 
are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest ;  ”  u  Look  unto  me,  and 
be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth.”  So,  whilst  we  speak  of 
sovereignty  and  appointment,  and  distribution  of  place  and 
honour,  we  are  not  speaking  of  the  great  matter  of  human 
salvation, — for  the  Gospel  is  to  be  sounded  unto  all  nations  and 
kindreds  and  peoples  and  tongues.  Wherever  the  Gospel  is 
preached  it  is  to  signify  love,  welcome,  offered  pardon,  offered 
heaven.  For  such  a  Gospel  praise  be  to  God  the  Father,  God 
the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost. 


SELECTED  NOTE. 

All  the  after  life  of  Joshua  is  the  carrying  out  with  a  remarkable  simplicity 
of  unquestioning  faith  this  first  charge  of  his  God.  His  obedience  is  imme¬ 
diate.  ...  At  once  he  assumes  in  all  its  breadth  the  office  so  committed  to  his 
hands,  and  as  God’s  vicegerent  “  commands  the  officers  of  the  people  ”  (i.  10). 

The  first  command  was  one  which  showed  his  great  faith,  and  tested 
strongly  the  obedience  of  the  people.  The  river  Jordan  lay  between  the 
camp  and  the  land  of  their  promised  inheritance,  and  it  must  be  passed  over 
by  them  at  the  very  outset  of  their  march.  But  how  could  this  be  accom¬ 
plished  ?  Even  if  it  were  possible,  with  difficulty  and  risk,  to  transport  over 
it  a  chosen  handful  of  warriors,  how  could  he  possibly  carry  over  the  mixed 
multitude — the  women  and  the  children,  and  the  flocks  and  the  herds  ? 
Even  over  the  fords  of  Jordan,  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances  o 
the  river,  this  would  have  been  almost  impossible ;  and  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  when,  from  the  melting  of  the  snow  upon  the  highlands,  Jordan  was 
greatly  flooded  (for  Jordan  overfloweth  all  his  banks  all  the  time  of  harvest), 
it  was  more  than  ever  impossible  (iii.  1 5).  Yet  down  to  these  threatening 
floods,  on  the  hopless  errand  of  passing  over  them,  all  the  people  are 
ordered  to  march.  Surely,  it  must  have  been  a  sore  strain  upon  the  simple 
faith  of  the  young  commander  to  issue  such  an  order.  But  his  faith  was 
strong,  and  he  commanded,  and  was  obeyed. — Samuel  Wilberforce,  D.D 


PRAYER, 


Thy  word  is  exceedingly  comfortable  to  our  souls,  thou  Father  of  spirits, 
thou  God  of  eternity !  We  know  thy  words  are  good  and  full  of  power  : 
they  fill  the  necessity  of  our  heart  to  overflow,  yea,  even  to  abundance,  as 
of  fulness  upon  fulness,  until  there  is  not  room  enough  to  receive  thy  gift. 
Thou  dost  speak  from  the  sanctuary  of  eternity,  and  thy  words  come  with 
all  the  infinite  power  of  thy  majesty;  yet  are  they  gentle,  gracious,  like  the 
soft  rain  upon  the  tender  herb :  they  come  from  a  great  height,  but  thou 
dost  cause  them  to  fall  without  burdensomeness,  and  they  refresh  and  cheer 
and  satisfy  us  as  no  other  words  have  done.  We  bless  thee  for  any 
measure  of  constancy  in  thy  kingdom  which  we  have  been  enabled  to  realise 
and  to  manifest.  There  have  been  many  who  have  said,  Turn  to  the  right- 
hand ;  and  others  have  said,  Turn  to  the  left-hand  ; — but  because  thou  hast 
been  with  us,  an  abiding  inspiration  and  a  daily  light,  we  find  ourselves  still 
in  the  sanctuary,  standing  upon  the  rock,  clinging  to  the  blessed  Cross, 
looking  to  the  Son  of  God  for  redemption  and  all  the  mystery  of  pardon. 
This  is  the  Lord’s  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes.  We  would  have 
no  other  delight ;  all  other  joys  would  we  know  in  this  lofty  passion — to  love 
the  Saviour,  to  know  him  more  intelligently,  and  to  serve  him  with  a  pro¬ 
founder  obedience.  Thou  wilt  not  decline  our  prayer,  or  cause  a  cloud  to 
come  between  thy  throne  and  this  poor  earth  :  when  we  so  cry  we  know 
that  we  have  the  answer  even  whilst  we  are  breathing  the  prayer :  for  this 
is  the  will  of  God,  even  our  perfectness, — the  completeness  of  our  manhood, 
the  subjugation  of  our  will  to  right  and  truth  and  love.  So  we  know  that 
we  have  thy  reply, — may  we  know  it  still  more  confidently,  and  rejoice  in 
deepening  peace,  and  in  ever-increasing  strength,  and  in  continual  delight 
which  makes  the  heart  young  and  the  hand  strong.  As  for  our  sin,  take  it 
up  in  thy  mighty  power  and  love,  and  bury  it  where  no  man  can  find  it,  and 
thou  thyself  forget  where  the  burden  has  been  laid.  Amen. 

Joshua  i.  16-18. 

16.  And  they  answered  Joshua,  saying,  All  that  thou  commandest  us  we 
will  do,  and  whithersoever  thou  sendest  us,  we  will  go. 

17.  According  as  we  hearkened  unto  Moses  in  all  things,  so  will  we 
hearken  unto  thee :  only  the  Lord  thy  God  be  with  thee,  as  he  v/as  with 
Moses. 

18.  Whosoever  he  be  that  doth  rebel  against  thy  commandment,  and 
will  not  hearken  unto  thy  words  in  all  that  thou  commandest  him,  he  shall 
be  put  to  death :  only  be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage. 


Josh.  i.  16-18.] 


UNA  NIMH  Y. 


7l 


UNANIMITY. 

JOSHUA  had  commanded  the  officers  of  the  people  to  pass 
through  the  host,  saying,  “  Prepare  you  victuals ;  for  within 
three  days  ye  shall  pass  over  this  Jordan,  to  go  in  to 
possess  the  land,  which  the  Lord  your  God  giveth  you  to 
possess  it.”  A  charge  was  delivered  to  the  people,  interpreting 
the  divine  will,  and  promising  great  blessedness,  possession, 
and  rest.  The  people  having  heard  the  appeal  answered 
Joshua  saying,  “All  that  thou  commandest  us  we  will  do,  and 
whithersoever  thou  sendest  us,  we  will  go.”  We  see  men  occa¬ 
sionally  at  their  best,  and  then  the  revelation  of  human  nature 
is  not  without  enchantment  and  great  comfortableness.  Men 
like  to  speak  in  crowds,  to  multiply  their  voices  by  a  thousand 
and  ten  thousand  ;  and  then  they  imagine  that  they  are  reveal¬ 
ing  the  strength  and  enjoying  the  confidence  of  what  is  termed 
unanimity.  It  is  a  beautiful  thing  to  see  forty  thousand  men 
all  intent  upon  one  purpose,  and  to  hear  them  -uttering  one 
cry,  and  to  know  that  their  utterance  is  expressive  of  an  obedient 
spirit.  This  is  the  answer  which  ought  to  have  been  given, 
and  which  ought  now  to  be  given  to  every  divine  appeal.  We 
should  answer  love  by  love ;  we  should  answer  music  by  music  ; 
when  heaven  descends  to  earth  with  some  unusual  blessing, 
earth  should  become  almost  heaven  in  its  grateful  appreciation 
and  response.  We  see  this  sometimes  in  the  sanctuary.  A 
sublime  revelation  of  divine  care,  providence,  grace  is  made, 
and  hearts  are  melted  into  one,  and  the  final  hymn  becomes 
a  pledge,  a  solemn  vow,  a  great  musical  consecration  of  the 
heart.  It  is  beautiful  now  and  again  to  see  what  ought  to  be, 
— occasionally  to  see  the  ideal,  now  and  again  to  hear  a 
common  sentiment  uttered  by  an  inspired  heart ; — surely  such 
are  sights  and  sounds  which  might  do  us  good  evermore ! 
Herein  is  part  of  the  benefit  of  the  sanctuary  :  we  become  our 
best  selves  under  its  holy  inspiration.  We  did  not  know 
altogether  what  was  in  us  whilst  we  were  outside  the  sanctuary, 
walking  solitarily,  brooding  upon  our  own  thoughts,  and 
heaping  up  reproaches  against  society;  when  we  came  into 
the  house  of  God  and  heard  the  universal  language,  something 
moved  in  us  which  claimed  kinship  with  the  speech,  and  we 


72 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE .  [Josh.  i.  16-18. 


longed  to  spring  with  a  thousand  men  to  our  feet  to  sing 
our  convictions  and  to  utter  our  vow  in  solemn  music.  You 
do  not  see  a  man  at  any  one  moment  ;  you  see  some 
aspect  of  him,  but  what  he  is  as  to  his  true  spiritual  bulk, 
value,  scope,  force,  you  do  not  see  at  any  one  observation  : 
but  you  see  most  of  him  when  under  the  sway  of  inexpressible 
emotion,  when  his  prayer  is  interrupted  with  praise,  when  his 
supplication  sobs  itself  into  confession  and  humiliation,  and 
when  his  hope  rises  into  song  and  expresses  itself  in  exclama¬ 
tions  of  loyalty  and  thankfulness  to  God.  We  never  could 
have  known  human  nature  in  its  wholeness  but  for  religious 
influences  and  Christian  appeals.  The  divine  appeal  is  a 
resurrection-trumpet :  it  awakes  the  dead  within  us,  it  makes 
the  churchyard  of  the  heart  throb  with  new  life.  You  lose 
inexpressibly  by  cutting  off  religious  connections,  by  inter¬ 
rupting  channels  through  which  religious  communications  flow. 
It  seems  to  be  an  easy  thing  to  leave  the  church  and  to 
allow  great  voices  and  appeals  to  waste  themselves  upon  the 
empty  wand,  but  we  cannot  tell  how  much  we  lose  by 
ceasing  to  mingle  in  the  common  emotion  and  reciprocate  the 
universal  sentiment  of  the  church.  To  leave  the  altar  is  to 
forego  the  touch  which  connects  us  in  a  mysterious  but  won¬ 
derfully  sensible  manner  with  the  eternal  throne,  the  infinite 
power,  the  ineffable  grace.  So  do  not  put  away  the  blessing 
of  an  ideal  answer.  The  people  meant  every  word  of  it. 
They  did  not  know  what  they  said  ;  still,  they  were  excited 
to  a  nobler  selfhood  than  perhaps  they  haVl  ever  realised 
before ;  and  we  do  say  things  in  prayer  and  hymn  and 
religious  speech  the  full  scope  of  which  we  do  not  apprehend  ; 
— do  not  be  literal  with  us  and  say  that  we  lied  in  the  hymn, 
that  we  committed  treason  in  the  prayer,  and  spoke  falsely  in 
the  noble  excitement;  it  is  not  so:  another  self,  larger,  better 
than  we  have  ever  known  before,  rose  up  within  us  and  sang 
that  grand  hymn,  uttered  that  heaven-moving  prayer,  and 
ennobled  that  sublime  excitement. 

This  is  an  answer  which  experience  has  uniformly  discredited. 

We»  have  never  lived  this  reply.  The  words  are  still  ringing 

» 

in  the  air,  and  the  air  seems  to  have  a  kind  of  pleasure  in 


Josh.  i.  16-18.] 


UNANIMITY, ; 


73 


retaining  the  tones  and  reproducing  them,  until  they  become 
not  reminders  only  but  reproaches  and  criticisms  and  appalling 
judgments.  We  remember  the  altar :  we  need  no  mocking 
spirit  to  remind  us  how  far  we  have  wandered  from  it.  We 
remember  the  wedding-day  when  Christ  and  we  became  one, 
— and  what  a  feast  there  wTas  on  that  radiant  morning ;  what 
vows  were  exchanged  ;  what  love  was  pledged ;  how  the  future 
was  enriched  with  all  the  hospitality  of  inexhaustible  bountiful¬ 
ness  so  that  we  would  for  ever  dwell  in  the  banqueting-house 
and  for  ever  hear  the  flapping  of  the  banner  bearing  the 
divinest  name !  We  know  what  we  said  when  we  were  young. 
Youth  has  a  speech  all  its  own — a  flower  language,  a  garden 
rhetoric,  a  beautiful  efflorescence  and  poesy.  Every  word  was 
meant,  and  by  the  help  of  God  the  soul  now  says,  every 
word  shall  yet  be  redeemed  !  But  what  wandering  we  seem  to 
have  had ;  how  wayward  we  are ;  how  subtle  are  the  influ¬ 
ences  which  bear  upon  memory,  and  becloud  the  imagination, 
and  pervert  the  heart,  and  enfeeble  the  will  1  Did  Adam  fall  ? 
— Certainly.  There  ought  to  be  no  more  fully-attested  truth 
in  all  the  range  of  the  theological  judgment  and  imagination 
than  the  fall  of  every  living  man.  Compare  the  speech  of 
promise  and  its  attempted  excuses  ;  compare  yesterday  and  to¬ 
day  ;  contrast  the  morning  prayer  with  the  evening  recollection. 
No  other  man  could  fall  for  us.  We  seem  to  think  there 
is  a  kind  of  substitutionary  action  in  the  Adamic  apostasy, — as 
if  Adam  had  mysteriously  consented  to  fall  on  our  account, 
or  to  represent  us  in  a  great  tragedy.  The  truth  is,  every 
man  falls  himself,  in  himself,  and  for  himself ;  and  the 
experience  of  the  world  is  lost  upon  every  one  of  us  :  were  it 
not  so,  the  first  two  chapters  of  Ecclesiastes  would  save  the 
world  from  all  further  practical  mistake.  But  nobody  believes 
those  two  chapters ;  they  read  fluently,  the  style  is  copious 
and  urgent,  the  experience  is  full  of  colour,  and  it  beats  with  a 
very  strong  pulse,  and  we  would  not  like  to  give  up  the 
chapters  as  part  of  a  literary  treasure, — but  who  believes 
them  ?  No  living  soul !  Every  man  builds  his  own  Jerusalem, 
gets  around  him  his  garden  of  delights,  yields  to  his  own 
serpent,  and  is  damned  on  his  own  account.  It  is  not  for 
us  to  become  the  censors  of  antiquity,  saying  that  Israel 


74 


THE  PEOPLE’S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  i.  16-18. 


failed  to  carry  out  in  literal  exactness  the  pledge  which  was 
made  almost  in  song.  Let  us  keep  to  our  own  experience  ; 
stand  upon  the  facts  which  make  up  our  own  daily  life,  and 
through  them  we  shall  see  how  it  was  that  antiquity  sinned 
and  that  the  first  man  fell.  Were  we  to  close  here  we  should 
close  under  a  great  cold  cloud ;  but  this  is  not  the  stopping- 
place  :  there  are  points  beyond. 

This  was  an  answer  given  without  full  consciousness  of  the 
motive  which  dictated  it.  We  are  not  rapid,  as  we  certainly  are 
not  exact,  in  the  analysis  of  motive  :  we  take  the  first  explanation 
which  comes  to  hand,  and  are  content  if  other  people  will  receive 
it.  A  mysterious  action  is  this,  which  we  have  come  to  know 
by  the  name  of  motive, — that  is  to  say,  why  we  do  certain  things, 
or  say  them,  fear  them,  or  hope  for  them.  It  is  not  always  con¬ 
venient  to  descend  into  the  secret  place  where  motive  lives  and 
reigns.  It  is  better  sometimes  not  to  know  the  deeper  psycho¬ 
logical  reality.  What  was  the  case  in  this  particualr  history  ?  A 
great  promise  had  been  made ;  land  was  to  be  given ;  rest  was  to 
be  assured  :  Sabbath  was  to  dawn  upon  the  world,  and  the  desert 
was  to  be  as  a  fruitful  field  ;  under  this  promise  the  command 
was  given,  and  whilst  the  command  and  the  promise  mingled 
together  in  a  common  music,  the  people  said — We  are  ready  ! 
Nor  did  they  speak  untrustfully  or  insincerely.  We  do  not 
surely  know  by  what  motives  we  are  moved.  Motives  are  not 
simple,  they  are  complex,  mixed  up  with  one  another,  now  coin¬ 
ciding,  now  separating,  again  approaching, — and  not  to  be 
expressed  fitly  in  words.  How  far  did  the  promise  of  the  land  tell 
upon  the  obedience  of  the  men  who  answered  Joshua  ?  Who  can 
tell  how  subtly  the  word  “  rest,”  which  occurs  so  often  in  this 
opening  chapter,  entered  into  weary  lives,  distracted  hearts,  and 
made  men  ready  to  say  anything  that  lay  in  the  direction  of  its 
immediate  and  complete  realisation?  Who  can  take  himself  out 
of  himself?  Who  can  die  unto  God  ?  v  This  is  a  miracle  which 
lies  beyond  us  just  now;  yet  it  is  well  to  keep  our  eyes  upon  a 
plan — a  position  that  must  be  attained — if  we  are  to  grow  up  into 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  men  in  Christ  Jesus;  we  are  to 
have  no  self :  when  asked  where  our  life  is,  we  are  to  point  to  the 
Cross  on  which  it  has  been  nailed  and  on  which  it  has  expired. 


Josh.  i.  16-18.] 


UNANIMITY. 


75 


Do  we  not  find  the  operation  of  the  same  motive  now  in  our 
spiritual  experience  ?  What  is  it  that  has  been  promised  ? — rest, 
release  from  the  torment  of  conscience,  the  destruction  of  accusing 
recollection ; — another  promise  has  been  made  under  a  sweet 
name  which  no  man  has  ever  been  able  to  define  :  we  are  to 
have  heaven.  We  have  placed  heaven  above  the  blue  sky :  we 
would  not  have  it  in  the  east  or  in  the  west,  but  straight  up  in 
the  zenith  of  the  visible  firmament.  We  have  thought  of  heaven 
as  a  place  of  pureness,  rest,  joy,  song,  recognition  of  one  another, 
riddance  of  all  evil,  escape  from  death  in  every  form  ;  and  whilst 
godly  men  have  been  making  the  soul  these  promises,  what  if 
the  soul  said — We  accept  the  conditions;  we  will  obey;  for  such 
a  prize  we  are  prepared  to  serve  and  suffer  until  life’s  last 
day  ?  Having  uttered  the  pledge,  we  have  another  step  to  go  to 
get  back  to  old  lines,  and  perhaps  the  interposition  of  that  one 
step  may  happily  deter  us  from  returning  to  our  old  pursuits. 
A  prayer  should  be  a  thick  wall  through  which  it  is  difficult  to 
get  back  to  the  old  non-praying  state';  a  day  in  church  should 
separate  us  by  a  practical  eternity  from  all  evil  and  irreligious 
propensity  and  act.  Are  not  many  men  Christians  because  they 
want  to  go  to  heaven  ?  It  is  a  poor  reason,  yet  it  may  be  better 
than  none  at  all.  It  is  full  of  selfishness  :  it  is  a  little,  narrow, 
unworthy  reason.  What  we  should  aim  to  be  enabled  to  say  is 
this :  If  this  life  were  all,  it  is  better  to  live  in  the  spirit  of  Christ 
than  in  any  other  spirit ; — if  so  be  God  will  it  that  we  are  but 
contributaries  to  a  greater  humanity  and  an  enduring  civilisation, 
it  is  enough  that  we  have  ever  prayed  and  ever  loved.  Who 
can  attain  that  spiritual  sublimit}''  ?  We  cling  to  the  promised 
Canaan ;  we  long  to  escape  the  threatened  perdition.  Our 
reasoning  may  be  in  all  such  respects  narrow,  superficial,  and 
selfish, — still,  it  is  something  to  begin  with  :  for  the  literary  truth 
of  Christianity  cannot  be  urged  upon  us  all  at  once :  we  have  to 
grow  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so 
that  every  day  brings  not  its  new  Bible  but  its  new  interpretation, 
its  larger  claim,  its  ennobled  and  brightened  outlook. 

This  was  an  answer  given  before  battle.  The  idea  of  the 
battle  was  not  fully  recognised.  The  Lord  said,  “  I  will  give 
you,” — and  scarcely,  as  we  have  seen,  had  “I  will  give  you" 


;6 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  i.  16-18. 


been  uttered  than  the  other  words  were,  “  Fight  for  it !  ”  What 
land  were  they  to  possess  ? — the  land  whereon  their  feet  trod. 
You  must  go  the  land  to  claim  it :  your  footprint  must  be  your 
title.  We  are  not  called  to  some  land  that  lies  in  the  unmeasured 
region  of  the  fancy ;  the  land  shall  be  yours  whereon  soever  you  . 
set  the  sole  of  your  foot.  Hence  we  read  in  the  third  verse, — 

“  Every  place  that  the  sole  of  your  foot  shall  tread  upon,  that 
have  I  given  unto  you,  as  I  said  unto  Moses.”  Thai  is  the  true 
idea  of  possession.  Do  not  live  in  the  imagination  hut  in  the 
realisation  of  spiritual  truths.  What  have  we  fought  for.  Is  there 
now  a  man  who  can  stand  up  and  say,  u  I  have  fought  for  my  faith, 
and  I  hold  it  with  a  hand  that  has  bled  ”  ?  What  wonder  that 
we  change  our  faiths  easily  if  we  took  them  into  possession 
easily  ?  We  simply  heard  of  them,  and  we  desire  to  hear 
no  more  about  them.  Who  has  studied,  pondered,  prayed,  cor¬ 
rected  himself,  modified  his  conclusions — readjusted  them,  and 
gone  on  from  point  to  point  as  from  conquest  to  conquest, — now 
and  again  chargeable  with  inconsistency,  but  only  with  the  in¬ 
consistency  of  self-correction,  profounder  criticism,  and  using  a 
broader  light  than  was  available  yesterday  ?  We  want  sturdy 
soldiers  in  the  Church — men  who  say, — Though  all  is  given  to 
us,  yet  it  has  to  be  fought  for,  and  our  answer  before  battle  shall 
be  quiet,  modest,  religious.  “  Let  not  him  that  girdeth  on  his 
harness  boast  himself  as  he  that  putteth  it  off.”  u  Let  him  that 
thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.”  Do  not  force  us  to 
answer  just  now.  We  have  heard  the  sublime  appeal ;  we  know' 
it  has  come  down  from  infinite  heights,  it  has  about  it  the 
fragrance  of  other  worlds, — thank  God  for  it ! — for  its  broad 
words,  its  grand  challenges  :  they  move  the  soul,  they  shake  the 
spirit  out  of  prison ; — but  as  for  the  full  reply,  we  ourselves  will 
wait :  every  day  we  will  add  a  syllable  to  the  answer,  secretly 
hoping  that  by  the  grace  and  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost  we  may 
be  able  at  the  end  of  the  days  to  present  a  complete  word,  steady 
as  a  planet,  bright  as  the  sun,  glorious  with  the  purity  of  a  good 
conscience ;  just  now  our  answer  must  be  hesitant,  broken, 
confused,  but,  believe  us,  our  meaning  is  right :  we  will  pray 
ourselves  into  greater  prayers,  and  transfer  ourselves  through 
the  medium  of  action  into  higher  sacrifice  and  higher  expositions 
of  holy  mysteries.  Do  not  judge  any  one  by  the  one  day.  We 


Josh.  i.  16-18.] 


UNANIMITY. 


77 


are  aware  that  he  replied  ecstatically — “  I  will  1" — and  he  meant 
it  in  the  very  secret  places  of  his  soul.  We  know  that  the  day 
after  he  faltered  and  fell,  but  his  faltering  and  falling  did  not 
destroy  the  purpose  of  his  soul  :  the  seed  of  God  was  in  him  ; 
and  he  in  whomsoever  that  seed  is  found  must  win  Canaan,  with 
all  its  light  and  rest,  its  everlasting  morning  and  its  surprising 
joys.  Do  not  fix  your  mind  upon  your  failures  and  slips  and 
apostasies  ;  they  are  a  thousand  in  number  and  they  are  without 
defence,  but  you  can  say,  “  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things  :  thou 
knowest  that  I  love  thee.”  If  you  can  say  so  honestly,  the  battle 
is  won  before  it  has  begun  ;  if  you  can  say  so  sincerely,  you  need 
have  no  fear  of  the  end  ; — only  be  strong  and  very  courageous, 
and  there  shall  not  a  man  be  able  to  stand  before  thee  all  the 
days  of  thy  life.  What  are  the  appeals  addressed  us  ? — not 
to  take  a  Jericho  measurable,  but  to  advance  to  positions  remote 
but  glorious.  “  What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do 
justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God." 
“  Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the 
Lord,  .  .  .  and  I  will  receive  you.”  “  If  any  man  come  to  me, 
and  hate  not  his  father  and  mother  ...  he  cannot  be  my 
disciple.”  Who  is  on  the  Lord’s  side — side  of  righteousness, 
side  of  truth,  side  of  pureness  ?  These  are  the  questions  and 
propositions  that  are  thundered  upon  our  ears.  Let  us  reply 
saying, — God  helping  us,  we  will  endeavor  to  be  true,  constant, 
loyal. 


PRAYER. 


How  many  there  are  whose  life  is  a  battle  thou  knowest,  O  Father  of  all 
living  !  They  wonder  why  they  should  exist ;  all  things  are  hard  to  them  : 
the  night  is  dark,  every  road  is  difficult  of  passage,  every  door  is  shut,  every 
man  is  a  foe.  They  wonder  and  can  hardly  pray ;  they  are  amazed,  and 
struck  down  with  astonishment.  Yet  sometimes  a  little  shining  of  light 
makes  them  glad  ;  then  they  foretell  the  time  of  peace  and  rest  and  joy. 
Thou  hast  set  in  the  midst  of  the  week  a  day  on  which  there  shall  be 
proclamation  from  time  to  time  of  thy  mercy  and  sympathy,  and  on  which 
some  hint  of  life’s  great  meaning  shall  be  given  to  the  sons  of  men.  Thou 
dost  show  us  that  all  thy  way  is  full  of  goodness,  though  we  cannot  now 
realise  the  significance  of  every  event.  When  the  grave  is  dug,  thy 
meaning  is  pitiful  and  merciful  and  most  compassionate ;  when  thou  dost 
send  sorrow  upon  our  life  it  is  to  chasten  and  refine  that  life  and  cleanse  it 
of  all  defilement.  Thou  dost  cause  all  things  to  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  thee ;  and  thou  dost  surprise  thy  children  by  newness  of 
revelation.  We  set  to  our  seal  that  God  is  true;  we  will  stand  up  and  say 
in  the  hearing  of  men — God  is  good,  and  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever;  he 
abideth  through  all  the  ages,  and  his  love  is  an  unchanging  light.  We  are 
enabled  to  say  this  notwithstanding  the  battle,  the  bereavement,  the  great 
loss,  the  mortal  disappointment ;  when  we  recover  ourselves  a  little  we  say, 
Thou  hast  done  all  things  well ;  thy  will  not  mine  be  done  ;  lead  kindly 
Light.  So  we  feel  it  worth  while  to  fight  all  the  battle  and  endure  all  the 
sorrow,  that  at  the  end  we  may  see  light  as  we  never  saw  it  before,  and  feel 
the  very  peacefulness  of  peace,  the  very  restfulness  of  rest.  We  come  to 
thee  by  a  way  that  is  living,  the  eternal  way,  the  only  way.  We  look  unto 
Jesus,  and  are  saved:  we  behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  in  beholding  him 
with  the  eyes  of  our  faith  we  see  our  sins  carried  away.  Was  ever  love  like 
his?  Scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will' one  die:  for  a  good  man  perad- 
venture  some  would  die ;  but  thou  dost  magnify  thy  love  towards  us  in  that 
while  we  were  yet  sinners — neither  righteous  nor  good — Christ  died  for  us, 
— amazing  love !  Oh  the  depth  of  the  wisdom  and  grace  !  We  are  amazed  ; 
we  are  made  glad  ;  we  feel  we  are  forgiven.  Amen. 

Joshua  ii. 

I  And  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  sent  out  of  Shittim  two  men  to  spy  secretly, 
saying  Go  view  the  land,  even  Jericho.  And  they  went,  and  came  into  an 
harlot’s  house,  named  Rahab,  and  lodged  there. 

2.  And  it  was  told  the  king  of  Jericho,  saying,  Behold,  there  came  men  in 
hither  to  night  of  the  children  of  Israel  to  search  out  the  country. 


Josh. ii.]  SPIRIT  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


79 


3.  And  the  king  of  Jericho  sent  unto  Rahab,  saying,  Bring  forth  the  men 
that  are  come  to  thee,  which  are  entered  into  thine  house  :  for  they  be  come 
to  search  out  all  the  country. 

4.  And  the  woman  took  the  two  men,  and  hid  them,  and  said  thus,  There 
came  men  unto  me,  but  I  wist  not  whence  they  were : 

5.  And  it  came  to  pass  about  the  time  of  shutting  of  the  gate,  when  it 
was  dark,  that  the  men  went  out :  wdiither  the  men  went  I  wot  not :  pursue 
after  them  quickly ;  for  ye  shall  overtake  them. 

6.  But  she  had  brought  them  up  to  the  roof  of  the  house,  and  hid  them 
with  the  stalks  of  flax,  which  she  had  laid  in  order  upon  the  roof. 

7.  And  the  men  pursued  after  them  the  way  to  Jordan  unto  the  fords: 
and  as  soon  as  they  which  pursued  after  them  were  gone  out,  they  shut  the 
gate. 

8.  And  before  they  were  laid  down,  she  came  up  unto  them  upon  the 
roof; 

9.  And  she  said  unto  the  men,  I  know  that  the  Lord  hath  given  you  the 
land,  and  that  your  terror  is  fallen  upon  us,  and  that  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land  faint  because  of  you. 

10.  For  we  have  heard  how  the  Lord  dried  up  the  water  of  the  Red  sea 
for  you,  when  ye  came  out  of  Egypt ;  and  what  ye  did  unto  the  two  kings 
of  the  Amorites,  that  were  on  the  other  side  Jordan,  Sihon  and  Og,  whom 
ye  utterly  destroyed. 

11.  And  as  soon  as  we  had  heard  these  things,  our  hearts  did  melt, 
neither  did  there  remain  any  more  courage  in  any  man,  because  of  you  :  for 
the  Lord  your  God,  he  is  God  in  heaven  above,  and  in  earth  beneath. 

12.  Now  therefore,  I  pray  you,  swear  unto  me  by  the  Lord,  since  I  have 
shewed  you  kindness,  that  ye  will  also  shew  kindness  unto  my  father’s 
house,  and  give  me  a  true  token : 

13.  And  that  ye  will  save  alive  my  father,  and  my  mother,  and  my 
brethren,  and  my  sisters,  and  all  that  they  have,  and  deliver  our  lives  from 
death. 

14.  And  the  men  answered  her,  Our  life  for  yours,  if  ye  utter  not  this  our 
business.  And  it  shall  be,  when  the  Lord  hath  given  us  the  land,  that  we 
will  deal  kindly  and  truly  with  thee. 

15.  Then  she  let  them  down  by  a  cord  through  the  window:  for  her  house 
was  upon  the  town  wall,  and  she  dwelt  upon  the  wall. 

16.  And  she  said  unto  them,  Get  you  to  the  mountain,  lest  the  pursuers 
meet  you  ;  and  hide  yourselves  there  three  days,  until  the  pursuers  be 
returned  :  and  afterward  may  ye  go  your  way. 

17.  And  the  men  said  unto  her,  We  will  be  blameless  of  this  thine  oath 
which  thou  hast  made  us  swear. 

18.  Behold,  when  we  come  into  the  land,  thou  shalt  bind  this  line  of 
scarlet  thread  in  the  window  which  thou  didst  let  us  down  by  :  and  thou 
shalt  bring  thy  father,  and  thy  mother,  and  thy  brethren,  and  all  thy  father’s 
household,  home  unto  thee. 

19.  And  it  shall  be,  that  whosoever  shall  go  out  of  the  doors  of  thy  house 
into  the  street,  his  blood  shall  be  upon  his  head,  and  we  will  be  guiltless  : 
and  whosoever  shall  be  with  thee  in  the  house,  his  blood  shall  be  on  our 
head,  if  any  hand  be  upon  him. 


8o  '  THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  ii. 

* _ 

20.  And  if  thou  utter  this  our  business,  then  we  will  be  quit  of  thine 
oath  which  thou  hast  made  us  to  swear. 

21.  And  she  said,  According  unto  your  words,  so  be  it.  And  she  sent 
them  away,  and  they  departed :  and  she  bound  the  scarlet  line  in  the 
window, 

22.  And  they  went,  and  came  unto  the  mountain,  and  abode  there  three 
days,  until  the  pursuers  were  returned :  and  the  pursuers  sought  them 
throughout  all  the  way,  but  found  them  not. 

23.  So  the  two  men  returned,  and  descended  from  the  mountain,  and 
passed  over,  and  came  to  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  and  told  him  all  things 
that  befell  them. 

24.  And  they  said  unto  Joshua,  Truly  the  Lord  hath  delivered  into  our 
hands  all  the  land ;  for  even  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  do  faint 
because  of  us. 

THE  SPIRIT  AND  PURPOSE  OF  DIVINE 

PROVIDENCE. 

RAHAB  was  a  woman  without  social  repute.  She  became, 
however,  a  considerable  figure  in  history.  She  was  the 
wife  of  Salmon,  the  son  of  Naason,  by  whom  she  became  the 
mother  of  Boaz,  the  grandfather  of  Jesse,  the  father  of  David, 
in  proof  of  this  see  Matthew  i.  6;  Ruth  iv.  20,  21:  and 
1  Chronicles  ii.  ii,  54,  55.  Thus  there  was  Gentile  blood  in  the 
lineage  of  the  Son  of  man.  These  points,  apparently  incidental 
and  even  trivial,  are  not  to  be  passed  by  without  eager  and 
devout  attention.  Jesus  Christ  was  not  what  is  commonly  known 
as  a  Jew  only :  he  was  in  very  deed  what  he  called  himself 
— the  Son  of  man.  All  the  ages  seemed  to  conspire  and  breathe 
in  him.  The  city  of  Jericho  was  the  key  of  Palestine.  It  lay 
about  seven  miles  west  of  the  Jordan  and  commanded  the 
entrance  of  the  main  passes  into  the  land  of  promise.  The  city 
was  very  old  and  strongly  walled.  On  the  west  side  it  was  shut 
in  by  craggy  and  inhospitable  mountains  ;  yet  even  in  Jericho 
there  were  springs  of  water,  and  not  far  off,  toward  the  river, 
lay  a  great  grove  of  palm  trees.  How  to  take  that  city  was  the 
military  problem  of  the  time.  I  propose  to  regard  the  narra¬ 
tive  given  in  this  chapter  as  illustrating  the  spirit  and  purpose 

1  #  # 

of  divine  Providence.  By  studying  it  with  this  view  we  may 
see  the  continuity  of  history,  which,  indeed,  is  the  continuity 
of  human  nature,  which  also  in  one  aspect  is  the  continuity  of 
God,  Ancient  Jericho  is  gone, — not  a  vestige  of  it  remains; 


8i 


Josh,  ii.]  SPIRIT  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


why,  then,  should  we  turn  our  telescope  in  the  direction  of 
extinct  planets  ?  Why  seek  a  river  which  no  longer  flows  ? 
Why  drop  our  bucket  into  a  well  dried  up  ?  These  inquiries 
show  how  superficial  our  thinking  may  be.  There  is  an  eternal 
spirit  in  history ;  we  should  always  be  in  quest  of  that  spirit :  it 
carries  with  it  the  whole  meaning  of  God. 

From  military  wisdom  we  may  learn  the  moral  wisdom  of 
always  striking  first  at  the  right  point.  Everything  turns  upon 
the  first  stroke  in  many  a  controversy  and  in  many  an  arduous 
battle.  Why  are  there  so  many  fruitless  efforts  in  life  ?  Simply 
because  the  beginning  was  wrong.  Why  do  men  come  home  at 
eventide,  saying,,  the  day  has  been  wasted  ?  Because  their  very 
first  step  in  the  morning  was  in  the  wrong  direction,  or  the  very 
first  word  they  spoke  was  the  word  they  ought  not  to  have 
uttered.  Why  do  ye  spend  your  strength  for  nought?  Why 
beat  with  your  poor  feeble  hands  at  points  which  never  can  be 
taken,  which  are  not  the  right  points  at  all  to  begin  at?  With 
all  thy  getting,  get  understanding  of  how  to  begin  life,  where  to 
strike  first,  what  to  do  and  when  to  do  it,  and  exactly  how  much 
of  it  to  do  within  given  time.  If  you  strike  the  wrong  place  you 
will  waste  your  strength,  and  the  walls  of  the  city  will  remain 
unshaken.  A  blow  delivered  at  the  right  place  and  at  the 
right  time  will  have  tenfold  effect  over  blows  that  are  struck  in 
the  dark  and  at  random  :  however  energetic  they  may  be,  and 
however  well-delivered,  they  fall  upon  the  wrong  place,  and 
the  result  is  nothing.  That  is  what  is  meant  by  wasted  lives. 
Men  have  been  industrious,  painstaking,  even  anxious  in  thought¬ 
fulness,  and  the  night  has  been  encroached  upon  so  that  the  time 
of  rest  might  be  turned  into  a  time  of  labour  ;  yet  all  has  come 
to  nothing  :  no  city  has  been  taken,  no  position  has  been  esta¬ 
blished,  no  progress  has  been  made.  Why  ?  Simply  because 
they  did  not  begin  at  the  right  point.  In  every  place  in  which 
we  may  be  situated  there  is  one  opportunity,  and  unless  that  be 
seized  all  other  occasions  will  be  but  empty  promises,  fruitless 
and  mocking  chances.  God  hath  set  us  thus  in  very  critical 
positions.  We  are  called  upon  to  keenest  vigilance :  we  are  to 
watch  night  and  day.  When  the  chance  may  come  none  can  tell 
with  certainty.  Watch  always  :  it  may  come  now  : — 11  What  I 
VOL.  v.  6 


82 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  ii. 


say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all,”  said  Christ,  i(  Watch.”  It  is  in 
vain  to  tell  how  we  toiled  and  laboured,  and  begrudged  our 
sleep,  and  tried  again  and  again,  if  we  are  working  at  the  wrong 
point,  walking  in  the  wrong  direction,  or  failing  to  seize  the 
divinely-created  opportunity.  If  any  man  lack  wisdom  herein,  let 
him  ask  of  God.  Great  courage  may  be  required  in  extricating 
yourself  from  wrong  positions.  Great  nobleness  of  mind  may  be 
required  on  the  part  of  a  man  to  say — I  have  begun  at  the  wrong 
point  :  I  ought  not  to  have  begun  here  at  all ;  I  renounce  this 
effort  and  begin  anew.  Blessed  be  God,  every  day  is  a  new 
opportunity  to  the  man  whose  eyes  are  in  his  head,  and  whose 
heart  has  as  its  determining  purpose  a  desire  to  obey  the  will 
of  God. 

We  cannot  deny  the  marvellous  coincidences  which  occur  in 
life,  nor  the  wonderful  opportunities  which  such  coincidences 
create.  As  the  men  went,  they  "came  into  an  harlot’s  house, 
named  Rahab,  and  lodged  there.”  Perhaps  the  only  house  they 
could  have  got  into  without  exciting  suspicion.  The  woman  was 
in  the  way  :  the  opportunity  was  created.  We  cannot  under¬ 
stand  how  these  things  should  be.  We  see  how  history  has 
many  a  time  been  in  great  peril, — yes,  the  whole  substance  of 
what  is  known  as  human  history  has  sometimes  been  within  one 
thread  of  breaking  up  altogether.  Sometimes  that  marvellous 
quantity  of  life — event,  purpose,  which  we  call  history,  has  gone 
so  close  to  the  fire  as  nearly  to  be  consumed.  From  great  depths 
God  has  rescued  history  ;  in  infinite  perils  God  has  appeared  to 
save  the  race  alive.  Into  these  matters  none  may  enter  with 
words ;  they  are  to  be  dealt  upon  by  the  spiritual  imagination, 
and  they  admit  of  being  sanctified  by  the  spiritual  reason  and 
faith  of  man.  Who  can  follow  the  way  of  the  Almighty,  or  find 
out  to  perfection  the  counsel  of  Heaven  ?  ,  Along  this  same  line 
what  victories  Christ  himself  has  won  ;  the  noblest  things  he 
ever  said  and  did  were  in  connection  with  the  lineage  of  Rahab  ! 
The  story  of  the  woman  taken  in  adultery  will  stand  above  all 
our  stories  whilst  the  sun  shall  last.  The  answer  made  to  Simon 
the  Pharisee,  when  in  his  cruel  heart  he  destroyed  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Christ,  will  convert  the  world  from  its  despair,  when  the 
maxims  of  moralists  and  the  dreams  of  reason  have  been  forgotten. 
u  Simon,  i  nave  somewhat  to  say  unto  thee — •”  then  came  the 


Josh,  ii.]  SPIRIT  OF  DIVINE  PRO  VIDE NCE. 


83 


proposition  about  the  two  creditors,  and  then  the  story  of  forgive¬ 
ness,  and  then  the  benediction  upon  the  heart-broken,  weeping 
woman.  How  the  pulses  of  Rahab  made  his  blood  tingle  !  We 
cannot  tell  who  it  is  in  us  that  speaks  now,  or  then,  at  this  or 
that  particular  moment.  No  one  man  is  one  man  only.  Every 
man  represents  the  whole  line  along  which  he  has  come.  Who 
knows  the  inspiration  of  the  tender  speeches  of  Christ  in  relation 
to  the  very  class  which  we  have  now  particularly  in  view  ?  Who 
has  sounded  all  the  mystery  and  subtlety  of  heredity  ?  Now 
some  honest,  sturdy  old  ancestor  speaks  in  us  the  firm,  stern 
word — an  answer  like  a  bolt  of  iron,  by  which  the  approach  of 
the  enemy  is  driven  away ;  now  some  poor,  timid,  halting  soul 
that  took  part  in  our  lineage  speaks  in  us :  our  words  are 
pithless,  our  tones  are  without  soul,  our  life  has  in  it  no  spark 
of  fire  ;  now  arises  some  demon  within  us,  opening  a  throat  that 
can  swallow  rivers  and  not  be  cooled; — who  can  tell  who  it  is 
that  thus  assumes  the  momentary  domination  of  our  life  ?  We 
must  not  be  superficial  in  our  view  of  these  things.  One  man 
is  many  men.  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  MAN,  representing  all 
humanity,  knowing  all  its  temptations  and  burdens  and  stresses  : 
feeling  in  himself  every  fire  that  ever  burned  within  the  human 
breast,  and  every  sigh  of  peace  that  ever  lulled  the  tumult  of  life 
into  momentary  tranquillity.  "We  have  not  an  high  priest 
which  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities ;  but 
was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are.”  What,  therefore,  is 
the  grand  conclusion  ? — “  Let  us  therefore  come  boldly  unto  the 
throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to 
help  in  time  of  need.” 

Nor  can  we  deny  the  beginnings  of  new  life  in  unexpected 
places.  In  conversation  the  woman  appeared  to  have  received 
very  considerable  spiritual  enlightenment.  But  there  is  a  woman 
within  the  woman — a  man  within  the  man.  We  are  not  made  up 
altogether  of  mere  circumstances  a  moment  old,  coming  to-day, 
going  to-morrow, — a  shifting,  fleeting  environment  ;  we  are 
spiritual  beings  with  a  spiritual  instinct  and  a  spiritual  history 
and  outlook.  Rahab  was  not  a  (t  harlot  ”  only  :  she  was  really 
a  student  of  history,  and  had  pondered  many  serious  things 
in  her  heart,  and  had  put  events  together  and  construed  their 
meaning,  and  the  meaning  which  revealed  itself  to  her  was  this  : 


34 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  ii. 


A  new  age  is  coming ;  the  night  is  far  spent ;  I  do  not  know 
what  it  is,  but  the  air  is  moved  by  a  new  trouble ;  I  hear  in  it 
footfalls  as  of  advancing  men ;  presently  some  great  event  will 
supervene ;  what  it  is  I  know  not, — I  will  hasten  to  my  house 
and  lie  down  to  sleep.  News  had  come  to  the  city  :  people  were 
hearing  of  an  advancing  host  who  never  struck  but  to  slay,  whose 
progress  nothing  could  stop ;  expectation  had  been  excited  : 
events  might  occur  at  any  moment  which  would  give  new 
direction  and  momentum  to  human  history  and  social  energy. 
So  it  is  spiritually ;  so  it  is  to-day,  and  every  day.  There  are 
always  men  who  hear  the  signs  of  the  coming  age,  who  observe 
tokens  and  omens,  and  who,  putting  things  together,  say — The 
summer  draweth  nigh,  the  harvest  cannot  be  long  in  whitening ; 
we  hear  footfalls,  and  they  are  firm  yet  soft,  and  we  interpret 
the  method  of  their  coming  peacefully  and  hopefully  : — he  is 
coming  whose  right  it  is  to  reign  :  new  thought  is  coming,  new 
speech,  new  prayer,  new  life : — even  so,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly  !  Human  history  is  not  all  past  and  all  future  :  there  is 
a  middle  quantity — a  period  of  transition,  wonder,  expectation, 
uncertainty  :  we  know  not  what  the  meaning  of  signs  may  be. 
Persons  who  are  caught  in  the  enthusiasm  of  that  transitional 
period  may  be  called  heretics,  unorthodox,  unsound,  peculiar,  or 
eccentric.  They  cannot  help  it  :  the  spirit  of  the  enlarging  and 
descending  heavens  is  upon  them;  to-morrow  they  will  be  like 
ancient  history.  So  quickly  does  time  come  and  go  that  the 
men  who  are  heretics  to-day  are  called  effete  and  behind  the 
times  to-morrow.  Here,  however,  in  this  particular  instance 
we  see  the  working  of  this  side  of  Providence.  Even  in  Jericho 
the  name  of  Israel  has  been  heard  ; — even  within  the  walled  city 
fear  of  Israel  has  been  created. 

The  part  which  Rahab  played  in  the  transaction  is  not  easy  of 
explanation.  She  was  plainly  guilty  of  treachery  and  falsehood. 
Two  or  three  things  should  be  clearly  remembered  about  this 
circumstance.  Nowhere  is  the  treachery  or  falsehood  of  Rahab 
commended  in  all  the  holy  books.  It  has  been  sometimes 
thought  that  the  falsehood  of  Rahab  had  been  made  matter  of 
divine  eulogium.  Nothing  of  the  kind !  We  cannot  too  persis¬ 
tently  urge  this  truth  upon  the  minds  of  inquirers.  Nowhere, 


Josh,  ii.]  SPIRIT  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


85 


from  end  to  end  of  the  history,  is  treachery  commended  or  is 
lying  approved.  Still,  what  marvellous  faith  the  woman  had' ! 
Her  faith  is  spoken  of  with  almost  veneration.  There  are 
moments  in  life  when  we  do  not  seem  to  belong  to  present  things 
or  things  past :  we  talk  as  in  a  dream  ;  some  greater  self  rises 
within  us,  and  we  speak  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  prophecy. 
We  have  seen  already  that  the  woman  was  at  least  two  women. 
She  was  indeed  a  sinner,  but  she  was  endowed  with  great 
spiritual  enlightenment,  and  like  another  historical  woman  she 
“  pondered  ”  human  events  and  divine  providences  in  her  heart. 
Why  not  from  her  some  great  speech  ?  Does  not  God  proceed 
constantly  by  this  plan  ?  It  is  the  unexpected  voice  that  charms 
us;  it  is  from  quarters  unlooked  for  that  messages  arise  that 
cheer  the  heart ; — it  is  in  Bethlehem  that  Christ  is  born ;  it  is 
from  Nazareth  that  some  “  good  thing  ”  cometh.  Life  is  not 
a  straight  line  :  it  is  a  perplexity  and  a  complexity  which  does 
not  admit  of  being  disentangled.  We  cannot  tell  all  we  say, 
all  we  are ;  nor  can  we  give  account  of  ourselves  at  the  bar  of 
man.  Great  is  the  mystery  of  humanity ! 

An  appalling  doctrine,  however,  has  been  founded  upon  such 
circumstances  as  are  represented  in  the  history  of  Rahab.  Of 
that  doctrine  we  ought  to  beware.  It  has  been  said  again  and 
again  that  there  are  circumstances  under  which  people  may  tell 
lies  and  yet  preserve  a  good  conscience, — nay,  but  may  even 
be  regarded  as  doing  the  will  of  Heaven.  I  reply  :  God  never 
said  so,  Christ  never  said  so,  Christ’s  apostles  never  said  so ; 
we  cannot  find  our  authority  in  the  Bible,  and  any  authority 
outside  of  it  is  not  worthy  an  instant’s  consideration.  It  is 
worth  while,  however,  to  dwell  upon  the  matter  one  moment, 
because  there  is  a  tendency  in  the  human  mind  to  create 
casuistical  difficulty.  The  mind  will  ask,  What  ought  to  be 
done  under  such  and  such  circumstances  ?  The  mind  enfeebles 
itself  by  creating  such  foolish  and  almost  impossible  and  romantic 
riddles.  We  ought  not  to  try  our  ingenuity  too  far  in  inventing 
possibilities  under  which  it  may  be  right  to  tell  lies.  Casuistry 
may  be  the  beginning  of  falsehood.  A  man  may  so  engage  his 
mind  in  the  proposition  and  solution  of  riddles  as  to  do  fatal 
injury  to  his  conscience.  What  we  have  to  consider  is  the 


86 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  ii. 


reality  of  life,  the  circumstances  under  which  we  ourselves  are 
placed.  There  is  romance  enough  in  real  life  without  inventing 
romances  of  a  merely  speculative  kind.  Now  the  teaching  of 
the  Bible  is  this  :  that  there  are  no  possible  circumstances  in 
life  in  which  it  is  right  to  do  wrong,  in  which  it  is  right  to  tell 
lies,  in  which  it  is  right  to  be  double-minded  and  double-tongued. 
On  the  other  hand,  whilst  laying  down  this  doctrine  with  all 
clearness  and  definiteness  and  absolutely  without  reserve,  we 
cannot  overlook  the  fact  that  some  men  are  placed  in  real 
circumstances  of  great  peril  and  difficulty.  When  a  man  is 
told  that  if  he  will  not  act  so  and  so,  either  religiously  or 
politically,  his  daily  bread  will  be  taken  from  him ;  and  when 
he  is  asked  to  give  a  definite  answer  upon  the  matter,  and  when 
he  knows  that  his  answer  would  dispossess  him  of  house  and 
business  and  bread,  and  when  he  knows  that  he  is  not  the 
only  sufferer,  but  that  wife  and  children  and  infirm  and  aged 
dependents  are  all  involved  in  the  issue,  that  man’s  position 
is  not  an  easy  one  ;  nor  is  it  to  be  treated  flippantly :  we  are 
rather  to  gather  around  him  sympathetically,  prayerfully,  and 
acknowledge  that  he  is  now  about  to  make  the  decision  of  a 
lifetime.  Say  to  him — The  crisis  is  upon  you  :  you  are  at  the 
stake,  the  head  is  down  upon  the  block,  the  axe  is  gleaming  in 
the  air, — God  help  you  !  The  man  may  say,  Had  I  but  myself 
to  consider,  I  would  drive  off  with  defiance  and  scorn  all  who 
assail  my  integrity,  but  the  innocent  will  suffer :  the  little 
children  will  be  brought  under  the  pinch  of  hunger,  and  the 
old  folks  who  live  upon  my  bounty  will  have  no  bed  to  lay 
their  weariness  upon  ; — my  God  !  what  shall  I  do  ?  Personally 
I  have  no  patience  with  the  flippant  people  who  fling  easy 
answers  to  such  men — people  who  have  never  had  to  suffer 
under  that  tremendous  wheel  themselves.  What,  then,  is  the 
message  from  the  sanctuary  upon  such  a  crisis  ?  It  is  still : 
Fear  God,  and  have  no  other  fear;  if  ye  suffer  for  well-doing, 
great  is  your  reward  in  heaven  ;  whether  it  be  right  in  the 
sight  of  God  to  hearken  unto  men  more  than  unto  God,  judge 
ye ;  “  herein  do  I  exercise  myself,  to  have  always  a  conscience 
void  of  offence  toward  God,  and  toward  men  ;  ”  you  threaten 
me  :  I  cannot  reply  to  you  in  your  own  terms ;  you  have  the 
upper  hand  of  me  now,  and  you  intend  to  use  your  position 


Josh. ii.]  SPIRIT  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE . 


87 


tyrannously,  but  they  that  be  for  me  are  more  than  all  that 
can  be  against  me ; — I  will  not  lie  :  I  will,  in  God’s  name  and 
fear  and  strength,  tell  the  truth  !  So  the  sanctuary  sends  no 
mitigated  message,  sets  up  no  question  of  casuistry ;  nor  does 
it  deliver  that  message  alone  :  it  says — Taking  all  history  into 
account,  and  judging  the  future  by  the  past,  they  that  do  so 
shall  have  a  crown  of  glory,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge, 
himself  will  give.  Meanwhile,  the  case  is  a  difficult  one — that 
is  to  say,  it  is  a  hard  and  trying  one,  but  the  other  side  is  not 
the  side  I  dare  adopt.  Given  that  I  have  personally  to  choose 
to  be  on  the  one  side  or  the  other — on  the  side  of  the  tyrant 
or  on  the  side  of  the  oppressed — it  is  better  to  be  on  the  side 
of  the  suffering  than  on  the  side  of  those  who  inflict  the  pain. 
The  tyrant  seems  to  have  it  all  his  own  way  to-day :  he  quaffs 
his  wine,  sits  down  to  his  banquet,  and  laughs  the  loud  laugh 
of  folly,  and  all  things  seem  to  be  under  the  manipulation  of  his 
skilful  fingers ;  but  the  candle  of  the  hypocrite  is  blown  out, 
the  day  of  the  wicked  is  short : — "  I  have  seen  the  wicked  in 
great  power,  and  spreading  himself  like  a  green  bay  tree.  Yet 
he  passed  away,  and,  lo,  he  was  not :  yea,  I  sought  him,  but 
he  could  not  be  found,” — his  roots  were  torn  up  and  burned  with 
unquenchable  fire.  We  shall  never  be  truly  influential,  and 
never  have  real  peace  of  heart,  until  we  put  ourselves  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth.  We  must  not  trifle  with  words  ; 
we  must  not  stain  them  with  forbidden  colours  ;  nor  must  we 
impart  into  them  suggestive  tones.  Who,  then,  can  live? 


SELECTED  NOTE. 

Some  commentators,  following  Josephus,  and  the  Chaldsean  interpreters 
have  endeavoured  to  make  Rahab  only  a  keeper  of  a  house  of  entertainment 
for  travellers;  translating  thus: — “The  house  of  a  woman  an  innkeeper.” 
But  in  the  face  of  the  parallel  passages  ( e.g .  Lev.  xxi.  7  >  Jer-  v*  7 )>  this 
rendering  cannot  be  maintained  :  and  it  is  a  gloss  in  striking  contrast  with 
the  simple  straightforwardness  of  the  writer  of  this  book  of  Joshua,  and 
inconsistent  with  the  Apostolic  phraseology  (Heb.  xi.  31  ;  James  ii.  25). 
Rahab  had  hitherto  been,  probably,  but  a  common  type  of  heathen  morality, 
but  she  was  faithful  to  the  dawning  convictions  of  a  nobler  creed,  and  hence 
is  commended  by  Christ’s  Apostles  for  that  which  was  meritorious  in  her 
conduct. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  thou  art  always  doing  wonders.  This  is  the  day  of  thy 
miracles  more  abundantly  than  any  other  day  in  all  the  history  of  man. 
Thou  hast  not  ceased  to  work  thy  wonders  before  us  :  we  know  them,  and 
cannot  mistake  them,  for  they  bear  thy  signature,  and  are  radiant  with  thy 
presence.  Thou  doest  mighty  wonders  in  every  land  every  day,  according 
as  the  people  are  able  to  bear  thy  revelation.  Thy  wonders  are  spiritual  : 
thou  dost  regenerate  the  heart  that  was  dead ;  thou  dost  give  light  to  them 
that  sit  in  darkness,  and  as  for  those  who  were  afar  off,  they  have  been 
brought  nigh  by  the  work  of  thy  Son.  We  rejoice,  therefore,  that  we  live 
in  daily  expectation  that  to-morrow  shall  be  greater  than  this  day,  and  in 
the  assurance  that  thou  art  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that 
ive  ask  or  think.  This  is  our  joy,  our  inspiration,  our  daily  comfort  and  rest. 
The  Lord’s  arm  is  not  shortened  that  it  cannot  save ;  thy  hand  is  still  mighty, 
and  it  is  outstretched  in  sign  of  blessing.  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly ! 
Pardon  our  impatience.  We  know  it  takes  away  from  the  faith  of  our  prayer, 
but  thou  knowest  the  yearning  of  our  heart,  the  desire  of  our  spirit,  that 
the  east  may  dawn  with  a  new  light,  that  the  whole  sky  may  be  filled  with 
glory,  and  that  the  western  lands  may  dwell  in  the  blessing  of  thy  glorious 
truth.  Comfort  us  whilst  we  gather  around  thy  word  :  give  it  meanings  suitable 
to  our  immediate  necessities ;  show  us  what  Jordan  we  must  cross,  what 
cities  we  must  take,  and  how  we  must  wait  for  the  Lord,  and  wait  patiently 
for  him,  and  confidently  hope  for  his  salvation.  Thus  do  thou  give  us  rest, 
give  us  assurance  of  thy  presence,  care,  power,  and  beneficence  of  purpose  ; 
and  as  we  have  seen  all  this  realised  in  thy  Son  our  Saviour,  may  we  have  in 
him  the  assurance  that  all  lands  shall  be  God’s,  all  time  shall  be  sanctified, 
and  earth  itself  shall  be,  as  it  were,  part  of  heaven.  Amen. 

Joshua  iii. 

14  And  Joshua  rose  early  in  the  morning;  and  they  removed  from  Shittim, 
and  came  to  Jordan,  he  and  all  the  children  of  Israel,  and  lodged  there  before 
they  passed  over”  (v.  i). 

THE  NEW  SYMBOL. 

IN  this  first  verse  we  have  a  vivid  and  beautiful  illustration  of 
the  method  of  Providence.  The  people  were  called  upon  to 
undertake  a  great  and  historical  task.  It  is  comforting  to  note 
how  gently  and  graciously  they  are  led  to  their  work.  There  is 


Josh.  iii.  2.] 


THE  NEW  SYMBOL. 


89 


no  sign  of  precipitateness ;  there  is  no  urgency  indicative  of  im¬ 
patience.  A  great  and  historical  city  is  about  to  be  thrown  down 
to  the  very  foundations,  and  a  new  page  of  human  history  is 
about  to  be  turned  over ;  yet  the  Lord  leads  up  the  people  to 
a  lodging-place.  “  God’s  mill  grinds  slowly.”  We  are  impatient 
because  we  are  little  and  ignorant.  We  have  not  the  complete¬ 
ness  of  character  which  means  calmness  of  disposition.  We 
must  hasten,  we  must  be  noisy ;  we  do  not  understand  how  it  is 
that  the  planets  burn  without  fury  or  rush  or  sign  of  tumult :  it 
is  their  very  speed  that  brings  them  to  rest.  God  will,  therefore, 
have  no  demonstration  of  impatience  in  the  carrying  out  of  his 
purposes.  Sometimes  the  Church  rests,  as  if  afflicted  with  in¬ 
difference.  We  are  too  much  urged  in  some  circumstances ;  we 
have  mistaken  the  place  and  happy  effect  of  tranquillity.  It  is 
quite  true  that  some  may  misunderstand  this  and  sink  into 
indifference,  but  they  turn  God’s  water  of  life  into  poison,  and 
probably  nothing  that  wisdom  could  say  would  restrain  them  in 
their  infatuation.  We  must  speak  to  the  wise  and  the  thought¬ 
ful  and  understanding,  and  reflect  that  there  are  times  when  we 
do  most  by  doing  nothing,  and  that  we  advance  with  the  greatest 
pace  when  we  stand  still.  Happy  indeed,  and  often  timely,  is  the 
exhortation  which  pricks  us  forward ;  but  we  are  not  saved  by 
works.  This  human  urgency  is  often  a  misapplication  of  divine 
teaching  and  purpose. 

“And  it  came  to  pass  after  three  days,  that  the  officers  went  through  the 
host  ”  (v.  2). 

In  this  verse  we  learn  that  something  came  to  pass  after  “  three 
days.”  A  wonderful  place  that  period  of  time  occupies  in 
history !  There  seems  to  be  some  spiritual  magic  in  that 
number.  The  words  ought  not  to  be  read  hastily,  as  if  they  but 
indicated  an  accidental  period  of  time.  There  are  no  such 
periods  as  can  be  described  as  merely  accidental  or  fortuitous. 
The  whole  feast  of  time  is  measured  out;  every  man  has  his 
portion  in  due  season  ;  every  life  is  started  with  a  foreknown  and 
fore-regulated  dowry  of  days.  There  is  an  appointed  time  to 
man  upon  the  earth  in  the  deepest  sense  of  the  terms — a  little 
period  within  which  he  may  labour — the  longest  life  but  a  flying 
shuttle.  “  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy 
might.”  One  thing  is  certain,  amid  all  the  dubitation  and  change 


90 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  iii.  3. 


of  this  earthly  scene  :  that  life  at  its  best  is  brief,  and  that  no 
man  can  calculate  its  duration  with  a  view  to  fixing  its  termina¬ 
tion.  “  In  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  man  cometh,” 
to  call  up  his  servants  to  account,  to  hold  judgment  in  his  house¬ 
hold.  The  great  principle  of  individualism  has  not  been  sur¬ 
rendered  by  the  Bible ;  still  it  is  true  that  every  one  of  us  must 
given  an  account  of  himself  to  God.  Whilst,  therefore,  we  are 
not  unwilling  to  have  the  individual  sometimes  merged  in  the 
social,  whilst  it  may  be  pleasant  and  profitable  and  useful  that 
the  unit  should  realise  its  relation  to  the  whole  number,  it  should 
never  be  forgotten  that  individuality  is  to  be  the  law  of  responsi¬ 
bility  and  the  law  of  judgment.  We  cannot  rub  ourselves  out 
as  individuals,  or  so  merge  ourselves  into  the  common  life  as 
to  cease  to  have  a  personal  pulse  and  a  personal  destiny.  The 
“  three  days”  are  passed  with  some  of  us  :  we  ought  now  to  be 
at  work ;  the  rest  was  only  for  three  days, — the  work  is  of  an 
immeasurable  duration.  Do  not  expend  the  rest  thoughtlessly  or 
unworthily,  but  make  it  a  time  of  recruital  of  strength,  so  that 
youth  may  be  renewed  and  every  faculty  may  be  reinvigorated. 

In  the  third  verse  we  find  a  command  given  : — 

44  And  they  commanded  the  people,  saying,  When  ye  see  the  ark  of  the 
Covenant  of  the  Lord  your  God,  and  the  priests  the  Levites  bearing,  it,  then 
ye  shall  remove  from  your  place,  and  go  after  it.” 

We  must  live  by  command.  Even  gentleness  must  often  take 
upon  itself  the  imperative  tone.  Whether  the  commandments 
be  ten,  or  one,  or  ten  thousand,  there  is  the  great  principle  that 
we  are  moving  religiously  in  obedience  to  command.  If  we  were 
moving  in  obedience  to  instinct,  our  movement  would  be  irregular, 
and  without  pith  or  certainty ;  but  we  are  soldiers,  we  are  under 
military  discipline,  we  call  our  Saviour  our  captain,  and  we  ask 
that  we  may  fall  into  rank  and  order,  and  move  together  on  many 
occasions,  to  show  how  individuality  may  become  socialism,  and 
yet  how  socialism  does  not  impair  the  integrity  and  the  responsi¬ 
bility  of  the  individual  soldier.  What  is  to  be  seen  now  according 
to  the  command  of  the  officers  ?  In  what  direction  are  the 
people  to  look  ?  We  know  how  they  have  been  looking  these 
many  years  gone,  and  now  the  object  of  vision  is  changed  in  the 
third  verse.  It  is  most  important  and  instructive  to  note  all 
points  of  departure ;  to  see  exactly  where  things  become  new  in 


Josh.  iii.  3.] 


THE  NEW  SYMBOL. 


9i 


their  relations,  though  not  in  their  substance  and  highest  purpose. 
Up  to  this  time  we,  as  readers  of  the  Holy  Book,  have  been 
looking  for  the  cloud.  When  we  wished  to  know  whether  it  was 
time  to  move,  we  looked  for  the  rising  of  the  cloud,  and  for  its 
hovering ;  at  night  we  looked  for  a  pillar  of  fire  that  divided  the 
sovereignty  of  the  darkness.  Has  the  cloud  gone?  Yes.  Is  the 
fire  put  out  ?  Not  in  the  sense  of  extinction,  but  in  the  sense  of 
withdrawment.  Thus  we  close  the  pages  of  history  and  thus  we 
open  the  pages  of  prophecy.  It  seems  as  if,  in  our  poor  blind 
reading,  we  were  always  coming  to  some  new  place.  God  has 
come  variously  into  the  human  movement,  and  touched  in  a 
thousand  different  ways  the  springs  of  thought  and  the  fountains 
of  life.  Now  the  people  are  to  look  for  the  ark  of  the  covenant. 
The  cloud  is  taken  up,  the  fire  is  withdrawn,  the  great  cloud  of 
the  wilderness — so  much  like  a  spectre  or  a  spirit — is  no  more  to 
be  looked  for;  the  fire  that  burned  like  judgment  against  Egypt, 
the  eye  that  smote  off  the  iron  wheels  from  the  chariots  of  the 
oppressor,  the  fire  that  accommodated  itself  to  the  frailty  of  the 
bush, — these  are  no  longer  amongst  us  in  the  outworking  of 
human  history.  What  has  taken  their  place  ?  The  Covenant, 
the  written  Book.  We  are  coming  thus  nearer  to  Incarnation. 
This  is  the  method  of  Providence — the  Cloud,  the  Book,  the 
Man,  the  Holy  Ghost !  The  very  development  of  Providence  is 
a  sublime  argument  in  support  of  the  history  which  records  it. 
Fix  the  mind  attentively  upon  this  evolution,  and  see  in  it  shape, 
meaning,  beneficent  purpose.  First,  nature  will  contribute  her 
symbolism  :  the  cloud,  the  fire,  will  be  beautiful  images  of  the 
mysterious,  the  energetic,  the  uncontrollable,  the  eternal ;  the 
Lord  will  build  himself  a  house  of  cloud,  the  Lord  will  show 
that  the  universe  is  set  upon  pillars  of  flame.  It  is  enough  :  it  is 
adapted  to  the  wilderness ;  such  beauty  will  make  us  forget  that 
we  are  in  a  desert ; — let  us  steadily  follow  the  cloud.  But  the 
Lord  interferes  with  a  monotony  which  might  become  oppressive. 
Pie  will  have  a  scroll  written — a  holy  book — a  statement  that 
can  be  read,  published,  translated  into  every  language, — a  com¬ 
panion  of  every  fireside,  and  a  chart  for  every  sea.  Then  will 
come  the  Man  of  whom  the  writing  speaks  ;  he  will  say  :  I  am 
here  that  the  Scriptures  may  be  fulfilled ;  this  is  the  meaning 
of  the  ark,  this  the  meaning  of  the  law  hidden  in  it,  this  is  the 


9  2 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  iii.  4. 


meaning  of  the  lid  which  set  forth  the  divine  conception  of  mercy 
— “  Beginning  at  Moses  and  all  the  prophets,  he  expounded  unto 
them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself.”  Will 
he  abide  ?  No : — “  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away,” — 
but  I  will  send  the  Paraclete,  the  Comforter — that  living  Cloud, 
that  living  Fire ;  and  he  shall  abide  with  you  for  ever ;  being 
immeasurable,  he  can  never  become  wearisome ;  being  infinite, 
there  can  be  in  him  no  monotony  ;  he  will  settle  upon  every 
man  according  to  that  man’s  psychology,  and  out  of  the  indi¬ 
viduality  of  man  he  will  write  all  the  meaning  of  God’s  love  :  the 
writing  shall  be  manifold  in  colour  and  in  shape,  but  the  meaning 
shall  be  one.  Thus  let  us  always  mark  points  of  departure, 
critical  junctures  ;  and  not  hasten  through  history  as  if  it  were 
an  unmapped  desert — a  sea  without  a  shore. 

The  religious  element  was  to  prevail  in  that  great  military 
plan.  We  do  not  read  altogether  about  soldiership,  schemes  and 
plans  and  maps,  which  indicate  the  warrior’s  genius.  The  con¬ 
troversy  is  religious ;  at  the  head  of  it  goes  the  Covenant.  Let 
us  see  to  it  that  we  take  no  part  in  any  history  that  is  not  headed 
by  the  Book  of  God.  Nothing  is  worth  fighting  for  that  is  not 
symbolised  by  that  book,  and  it  will  comfort  us  in  days  and 
nights  of  stress  and  hard  weather  to  know  that  wherever  we  are, 
we  have  come  up  to  that  position  on  account  of  the  leadership  of 
the  book.  This  is  what  we  want :  more  Bible — the  Bible  in  the 
people’s  tongue,  the  Bible  open  to  every  old  man  and  every  little 
child ;  we  want  to  speak  of  Bible  things  in  Bible  terms ;  we 

require  now  to  follow  the  Covenant.  If  the  Book  of  God  is  not 

» 

at  the  head  of  the  procession  in  which  we  are  moving,  the 
procession  is  moving  into  darkness,  disaster,  and  humiliation. 

A  space  was  to  be  between  the  marching  host  and  the  ad¬ 
vancing  ark.  For  what  purpose  ?  That  every  man  in  the 
procession  might  know  his  relation  to  the  holy  ark : — 

“Yet  there  shall  be  a  space  between  you  and  it,  about  two  thousand 
cubits  by  measure :  come  not  near  unto  it,  that  ye  may  know  the  way  by 
which  ye  must  go  ”  (v.  4). 

There  was  to  be  order  even  in  this  arrangement.  God  has 
always  been  consulting  the  necessities  of  his  believers  and 
followers  and  children.  He  has  fixed  positions  of  every  kind  so 


Josh.  iii.  4.] 


THE  NEW  SYMBOL. 


93 


as  to  suit  the  army  he  has  been  leading.  It  is  not  enough  that 
a  few  men  at  the  head  of  the  host  should  see  the  Covenant ; 
it  was  needful  that  all  the  host  should  see  the  sacred  symbol. 
So  it  should  ever  be.  The  poorest  soul  born  into  the  world, 
without  a  single  advantage  of  a  social  kind,  should  not  be  left 
without  sight  of  the  ark.  Every  man  must  look  for  himself.  It 
is  not  enough  to  be  looking  where  the  next  man  is  going  to, 
and  to  be  following  him.  Here  the  great  principle  of  indi¬ 
viduality  again  asserts  itself.  Every  wounded  man  must  give  his 
own  attention  to  the  uplifted  serpent, — every  man  must  read  the 
Bible  for  himself.  And  yet  here  comes  the  sublime  possibility 
that  every  man  may  be  looking  in  the'  same  direction  and  the 
host,  therefore,  moving  like  an  undivided  and  indissoluble  phalanx. 
If  the  individual  is  right,  the  host  will  be  right.  You  cannot  deal 
with  the  host  as  a  whole  number ;  you  must  deal  with  the 
individual.  When  individuals  are  right  nations  cannot  be  wrong. 

The  reason  given  for  this  arrangement  and  this  observance  of 
the  covenant  is — 

“ .  .  .  for  ye  have  not  passed  this  way  heretofore  ”  (  v.  4). 

This  passage  is  often  misunderstood,  and  therefore  misapplied. 
It  cannot  simply  mean,  This  is  an  unfamiliar  path ;  or,  This  is 
new  ground ;  or,  This  is  a  position  which  you  have  never 
occupied  before ;  for  then  the  same  observation  would  apply  to 
the  whole  course  which  the  Israelites  had  been  pursuing  for 
many  years.  This  is  not  a  provision  against  the  dangers  that 
may  arise  from  unfamiliar  scenes.  We  have  here  indicated  a 
new  point  of  history.  “Ye  have  not  passed  this  way  heretofore” 
means  :  Up  to  this  time  you  have  had  cloud  by  day  and  fire 
by  night ;  now  there  will  be  no  cloud,  there  will  be  no  fire  ;  now 
you  pass  as  obedient  to  a  written  and  treasured  Word  ;  you  have 
now  become  a  great  Bible  school,  a  great  army  following  a 
written  inspiration.  A  great  light  shines  upon  the  instruction 
now.  Up  to  this  time  we  have  felt  the  words  which  conclude 
the  fourth  verse  to  be  but  a  commonplace,  which  might  have 
been  applied  to  the  history  of  Israel  any  time  during  almost 
half  a  century  before ;  but  now  we  see  that  a  new  method  of 
travelling  is  adopted — a  new  object  of  vision  is  let  down  from 
heaven ;  and  although  the  method  of  revelation  may  change, 


94 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  lii.  4. 


nothing  ever  changes  the  Bible  itself  in  the  substance  of  its 
meaning.  A  revised  version  is  not  a  new  revelation.  A 
new  Bible  is  not  a  new  testimony.  It  is  because  of  the  scholar¬ 
ship  which  has  been  lavished  upon  it  a  more  sure  word  of 
prophecy,  but  the  prophecy  itself  abideth  for  ever.  What  can 
we  understand  of  this  Covenant  in  the  way  in  which  it  is  too 
often  read  ?  Some  men  are  calling  for  the  restoration  of  theo¬ 
logical  systems,  and  others  are  calling  for  obedience  to  scientific 
discovery  and  law  ;  without  saying  one  word  of  deprecation  in 
reference  to  either  of  the  parties,  we  may  again  and  again  put  in 
a  word  for  Bible  reading,  Bible  study ;  for  giving  the  Bible  an 
opportunity  of  speaking  continuously,  and  thus  argumentatively 
and  persuasively.  He  would  not  be  unjust  to  his  age  who 
charged  it  as  a  Bible- neglecting  age.  The  Church  itself  does  not 
always  read  the  Bible  aright.  The  Bible  is  read  in  texts.  He 
would  not  be  too  bold  a  man  who  affirmed  that  isolated  texts  had 
done  more  to  hinder  the  progress  of  truth  than  any  assault  that 
was  ever  made  upon  Christianity  from  the  outside.  Men  should 
humble  themselves  in  crying  penitence  before  God  because  they 
have  torn  the  seamless  robe  and  given  it  away  in  rags.  The 
Bible  is  one ;  the  Bible  is  a  stupendous  whole.  Could  we  hear 
its  cry  it  would  be,  Read  me  ;  read  me  all ;  read  me  through  in 
every  page,  line,  word,  and  syllable.  O  earth,  earth,  earth  !  hear 
the  word  of  the  Lord  !  What  is  at  the  head  of  the  armies  of 
the  day  ?  What  new  programmes  !  what  exciting  propositions  ! 
what  criminal  promises !  The  Christian  should  insist  that  the 
Church  at  least  should  follow  no  leadership  but  the  ark  of  the 
eternal  testimony.  Every  college  should  rise  up  in  the  morning 
to  do  one  thing — read  the  Bible.  Every  congress  and  conference 
should  meet  to  do  one  thing — read  the  Bible.  Every  congrega¬ 
tion  should  come  together  for  one  purpose — to  read  the  Bible. 
This  would  absorb  all  the  little  rods  of  necromancers  and  wonder¬ 
workers,  and  would  end  in  such  practical  mediums  of  expression 
as  would  suit  the  new  life  ;  and  though  many  mistakes  of  an 
external  and  temporary  kind  might  be  made,  the  outcome  would 
be  as  the  flowing  of  the  river  of  God.  How  can  the  Bible  be 
read  alone  ?  This  inquiry  points  to  a  sophism  which  is  work¬ 
ing  great  mischief  in  the  Christian  Church.  A  man  will  say, 
in  some  unworthy  mood  of  sullenness  or  resentment,  that  he 


i 


Josh.  iii.  4.] 


THE  NEW  SYMBOL . 


95 


will  remain  at  home  and  read  his  Bible.  He  may  remain  at 
home,  but  he  cannot  read  his  Bible  in  that  temper.  Compelled 
to  remain  at  home  by  stress  of  circumstances,  by  infirmity,  by 
ill-health  in  himself  or  in  others,  he  may  read  the  Bible  alone, 
and  God  will  treat  him  as  if  he  were  the  whole  assembly  of  the 
blessed,  withholding  nothing  from  his  loving  attention  and  gentle 
touch.  But  there  is  a  public  reading  of  the  Book — a  common 
reading.  Noble  is  the  term — the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
That  phrase  is  full  of  sacred  import.  There  is  common  prayer, 
there  is  common  reading,  there  is  a  public  emphasis,  there  is  a 
contagion  of  sympathy ;  there  is  given  to  the  united  perusal  of 
the  Bible  answers  which  cannot  be  given  to  any  solitary  recluse 
who  shuts  himself  away  from  the  Church  as  if  the  Church  were 
unworthy  of  his  presence.  Would  we  have  the  world  cleansed, 
disinfected  of  all  evil  literature  ?  Let  the  Bible  be  read  in¬ 
terestingly,  lovingly,  with  sympathy  and  with  delight.  Would 
we  have  great  thoughts,  noble  purposes,  sublime  expectations 
which  put  out  the  little  trials  of  the  day  ?  We  must  let  the 
word  of  Christ  dwell  in  us  richly — an  answer  to  every  temp¬ 
tation,  a  light  regularly  as  the  night  descends,  a  spring  of  water 
in  a  thirsty  land.  Stand  up  for  the  Bible  !  Do  not  stand  up  for 
it  without  first  reading  it  and  becoming  imbued  with  its  spirit. 
Defend  the  Bible  in  the  spirit  of  the  Bible,  which  is  a  spirit  of 
sovereign  power  and  redeeming  love.  Punctuate  your  reading 
with  your  tears,  and  then  when  you  preach  even  the  terror  of  the 
law,  it  will  be  to  persuade  men — fire  used,  not  to  burn  but  to 
enlighten,  not  to  destroy  but  to  cheer.  My  hope  for  the  future 
of  history  is  in  the  continuous,  connected,  and  massive  study  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures, 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  thou  art  round  about  us  and  within  us,  and  thy  nearness  is 
an  encouragement  and  a  joy.  Surely  it  is  not  wholly  a  judgment,  a  piercing 
and  destructive  criticism,  but  a  help,  a  comfort,  a  sustenance  infinite.  So 
will  we  regard  it  in  Jesus  Christ  thy  Son  our  Saviour.  We  will  not  be  afraid 
of  thee:  God  is  love;  we  wfill  draw  near  unto  thee,  yea,  with  boldness  we 
will  come  to  the  throne  of  grace,  not  that  we  may  plead  our  righteousness, 
but  that  we  may  obtain  thy  mercy  and  grace  to  help  in  every  time  of  need. 
We  would  live  the  wise  life;  we  would  that  ours  might  be  the  life  that  is 
rooted  in  God,  by  consent  as  well  as  by  necessity.  We  are  in  God,  all 
things  are  embraced  by  thine  infinity — all  evil,  all  hell,  all  good,  all  heaven — 
the  Lord  reigneth.  But  we  do  not  want  it  so  wholly ;  we  want  to  be  in 
God  by  consent ;  wTe  would  fix  our  love  upon  God,  and  our  faith  and  our  hope 
should  trim  its  daily  lamp  at  the  flame  of  thy  glory.  Thus  would  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being  in  God,  returning  to  him,  going  out  from  him  to  speak 
his  word,  and  coming  again  to  him  to  hear  his  wTord  that  we  may  speak  it  still 
more  simply  and  gladly.  We  have  heard  thy  word,  and  we  know  it :  it  is 
no  stranger’s  voice  that  speaks  to  us  therein  ;  we  know  the  music.  Imitators 
there  can  be  none ;  we  know  the  music  of  thy  grace  and  the  tunefulness  of 
thy  comfort.  We  cannot  be  deceived  ;  for  there  is  no  voice  like  the  eternal. 
May  we  hear  it,  receive  it,  and  answer  it  with  all  loving  obedience ;  then 
shall  our  joy  be  full,  and  our  day  shall  have  no  night.  Thou  hast  sent  us 
into  a  mysterious  life.  Sometimes,  by  reason  of  our  ignorance,  it  looks 
nothing:  it  is  a  mere  trifle,  a  spasm,  a  flutter  for  one  little  moment,  followed 
by  eternal  silence ;  but  this  is  the  fool’s  reasoning  :  whilst  we  look  upon  our 
life  and  muse  upon  it  and  study  the  divine  purpose  which  lies  under  it,  how 
solemn  is  life,  how  grand;  how  majestic  in  mystery;  how^  glorious  in  possi¬ 
bility  !  Thou  dost  tear  our  hearts  that  our  hearts  may  know  themselves. 
When  thou  dost  tantalise  us  it  is  that  wTe  may  be  taught  the  mystery  of 
prayer ;  when  thou  dost  disappoint  us,  it  is  not  to  mock  us  but  to  show  us 
that  things  are  larger  than  we  thought — more  mj'sterious,  more  awful.  May 
we  no  longer  live  as  those  who  have  no  centre,  no  altar,  no  God ;  but  live 
the  deep  life  and  the  true,  feeding  ourselves  upon  the  bread  sent  down  from 
heaven,  lost  in  wonder,  love,  and  praise  as  we  gaze  upon  the  truth  of  God ; 
and  thus  may  our  life,  being  divinely  nourished,  express  itself  in  human 
beneficence  :  may  we  go  about  doing  good,  knocking  at  doors  that  are  shut 
upon  us,  that  in  opening  them  we  may  find  an  opportunity  of  preaching 
Christ  and  exemplifying  the  light  of  heaven.  Pity  us  in  our  distresses — 
so  acute,  so  many,  so  difficult  to  bear;  save  us  from  looking  at  those  who 
seem  to  have  no  distresses,  lest  our  faith  be  swallowed  up  in  despair  :  may 


Josh.  iii.  7.] 


UP  TO  THE  BRINK. 


97 


we  not  look  upon  such,  may  we  turn  our  eyes  to  the  hills  whence  cometh 
our  help;  show  us  that  every  heart  knoweth  its  own  bitterness,  that  there 
may  be  no  mourning  or  complaining  against  the  supposed  partiality  of 
heaven.  Thou  dost  give  every  day  a  night,  every  summer  a  winter,  every 
life  a  burden  to  carry ;  thou  hast  thrown  a  shadow  upon  the  sunniest  way. 
Help  us  to  know  that  these  things  are  of  God,  and  are  under  God’s  control, 
being  meant  in  love,  and  at  last  will  be  shown  to  be  parts  of  a  divine  and 
beneficent  purpose.  Look  upon  us  according  to  our  need  :  it  is  a  great 
necessity,  but  thy  fulness  is  more  than  our  hunger,  the  riches  of  God  are 
unsearchable,  the  river  of  God  is  full  of  water.  We  bless  thee  for  all  we 
have  seen  of  thy  hand  :  we  still  commit  ourselves  wholly  to  its  protection  and 
guidance ;  they  win  who  fight  under  thy  banner,  thou  Saviour-God ;  they 
that  be  for  us  are  more  than  all  that  can  be  against  us,  and  when  thou  dost 
press  upon  the  enemy  with  the  weight  of  thine  eternity,  behold  he  is 
crushed  and  cannot  rise.  Follow  us  about  all  the  day  as  if  thou  hadst  no 
other  concern.  We  are  so  foolish,  so  unutterably  inexperienced  in  all  the 
deepest  mysteries  and  ways  of  life:  our  record  every  eventide  is  full  of 
crossing  and  blundering;  still  have  patience  with  us,  for  by  thy  grace  we 
will  to-morrow,  do  better.  Pity  the  broken  heart;  give  enlargement  of 
thought  and  brightening  of  hope  to  the  soul  that  repents  and  longs  to  do 
thy  will  more  obediently  and  perfectly ;  establish,  strengthen,  settle  every 
good  word,  thought,  and  purpose  ;  and  as  for  the  counsel  of  the  wicked  one,, 
turn  it  upside  down,  and  by  pouring  darkness  of  sudden  night  upon  him  may 
he  never  be  able  to  find  his  way  again.  The  Lord  pardon  our  sin.  Come 
over  our  guilt  as  over  a  mountain,  and  by  the  touch  of  the  mystery  of  the 
Cross  may  that  mountain  be  dissolved  and  the  union  between  God  and  the 
soul  be  for  ever  completed.  Send  upon  us  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Paraclete,  the 
Comforter ;  may  he  abide  with  us  for  ever  ;  teach  us  with  infinite  patience,  and 
sustain  us  with  tenderest,  sweetest  solaces.  Amen. 


Joshua  iii. 

“And  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua,  this  day  will  I  begin  to  magnify  thee  in 
the  sight  of  all  Israel,  that  they  may  know  that,  as  I  was  with  Moses,  so  I 
will  be  with  thee”  (v.  7). 


UP  TO  THE  BRINK. 


“  *  |  'HIS  DAY.”  It  is  pleasant  to  come  upon  the  definite  time. 

!_  We  are  to  be  so  blessed  “to-morrow,”  but  to-morrow 
never  yet  came  to  any  human  life  :  it  is  always  the  next  day ; 
no  man  has  seen  it ;  its  shape  no  man  can  tell,  its  messages  no 
man  has  heard  ; — it  is  the  unborn  time.  In  the  instance  before 
us  we  have  the  day  and  the  blessing  assigned  to  it,  so  that,  as  it 
were,  the  soul  leaps  into  the  immediate  heaven,  saying,  Behold, 
that  heaven  is  here  and  now  !  There  are  days  of  enlargement, 
vol.  v.  7 


98 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  iii.  7. 


intellectual  and  spiritual  and  moral,  in  human  life, — days  that 
dawn  upon  the  mind  like  an  infinite  summer;  days  in  which  we 
see  the  meaning  of  words,  the  relation  of  scattered  things,  the 
unity  of  what  we  supposed  was  but  chaos.  These  are  days  of 
liberty ;  there  falls  from  us,  almost  consciously  and  audibly, 
manacles  and  fetters  that  bound  us  in  humiliating  slavery,  and 
we  spring  into  great  enlargement  and  are  conscious  of  divine 
communion.  Call  these  days  birthdays !  When  were  you 
born  ?  is  a  limited  question.  Any  birthday  of  the  flesh  is  no 
birthday;  it  but  gives  a  man  a  chance  to  be  born.  He  is  not 
born  who  is  not  conscious  of  the  advent  within  him,  bringing 
with  it  sense  of  responsibility  and  willingness  to  submit  to 
sacrifice,  and  the  hope  that  no  sacrifice  can  kill  him  for  more 
than  three  days.  We  may  pray  for  the  day  of  enlargement  and 
ennoblement,  but  the  best  way  of  praying  for  that  day  is  to  work 
for  it.  If  we  work  well  to-day  we  may  get  the  enlargement  to¬ 
morrow.  Work  is  prayer :  hence  the  grand  Lutheran  motto — 
to  labour  is  to  pray.” 

“  This  day  will  I  begin  to  magnify  thee.”  We  can  almost  see 
the  beginning  of  the  magnifying  of  some  lives.  Although  things 
do  grow  very  subtly  and  all  but  invisibly,  and  often  altogether 
invisibly  as  to  process,  yet  we  sometimes  feel  as  if  we  saw  the 
•  child  become  a  man.  It  was  in  the  darkness  we  saw  it — the 
darkness  of  a  trouble  that  seemed  to  come  too  soon.  The  boy 
was  playing,  laughing  loudly,  running  merrily  round  the  little 
circles  of  opening  life, — a  boy  all  laughter;  and  a  great  distress 
fell  upon  him,  new  responsibilities  were  instituted,  he  began  to 
see  the  situation,  and  as  it  came  upon  him  in  great  volumes  of 
darkness,  see  how  he  stood  up  in  a  new  stature  and  a  new 
strength,  and  put  out  his  arm  as  if  he  might  tackle,  with  valour 
and  hopefulness,  the  hardest  task  of  time.  There  are  times 
when  we  are  magnified  by  the  possession  of  conscious  intellectual 
strength.  At  these  times  we  can  do  anything.  We  hover  above 
the  world,  and  descend  upon  it,  and  rise  again,  and  touch  it 
with  more  than  adequate  strength,  and  retire  from  it  in  ease  and 
majesty,  and  return  with  redoubled  energy.  So  then,  labour 
is  rest,  and  endurance  is  the  counterpart  of  heroism.  Woe  unto 
that  life  that  is  unconscious  of  being  magnified,  that  does  not  go 


Josh.  iii.  7.] 


UP  TO  THE  BRINK. 


99 


in  the  upward  direction.  Are  there  not  men  who  are  no  larger 

to-day,  in  mind,  purpose,  and  outlook,  than  they  were  five-and- 

_  + 

twenty  years  ago  ?  They  have  had  no  dream,  no  vision ;  they 

have  heard  nothing  unusual ;  they  have  not  seen  heaven 
opened  and  the  Son  of  man  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 
How  dull  that  life,  if  not  criminal !  how  monotonous,  if  not 
guilty  ! — pitiful  everywhere — in  the  common  school  pitiful — but 
how  infinitely  more  pitiful  in  the  Christian  Church  than  any¬ 
where  else !  No  burning  bush,  no  startling  voice,  no  conscious 
call  to  nobler  service,  no  seizure  of  inheritances  infinite  in  wealth  ; 
still  the  old  life,  the  old  monotony,  repeating  the  old  phrases  and 
not  knowing  their  meaning.  All  true  magnifying,  however,  is 
from  God.  A  man  cannot  make  himself  really  great : — this  is 
the  Lord’s  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes.  But  this  we 
can  do  :  we  can  be  prepared  for  larger  magnitude  of  personality 
and  influence;  we  can  be  found  waiting,  watching,  looking;  we 
can  use  the  one  talent  as  if  it  were  a  thousand,  and  be  as 
industrious  about  the  little  plot  of  ground  as  if  it  were  an  estate 
of  countless  acres.  Whom  does  God  magnify?  The  humble, 
the  contrite,  the  broken-hearted,  the  faithful,  the  industrious. 
Does  he  grant  the  magnifying  all  at  once  ?  Not  according  to  the 
observation  of  the  text.  He  begins  to  magnify ;  he  shows  a  new 
aspect  of  the  mind :  persons  are  surprised  at  a  new  development 
of  power,  a  new  tone  in  the  voice,  a  new  expressioij  in  the 
attitude ;  they  say,  something  has  occurred  here — what  is  it  ? 
and  by  the  end  it  will  be  discovered  whether  the  magnifying  is 
an  inflation  or  a  divine  call  and  investiture. 

Wonderful,  too,  is  the  way  in  which  the  word  of  chastening 
mingles  with  the  word  of  encouragement  : — “  As  I  was  with 
Moses,  so  I  will  be  with  thee  ” — not  more  so.  Moses  is  not 
dishonoured  or  thrown  into  any  secondary  place  :  he  will  abide 
until  he  comes  whose  right  it  is  to  reign.  So  Joshua  must  still 
peruse  the  life  of  Moses,  look  upon  himself  as  a  continuation  of 
a  grand  beginning.  He  does  not  detach  himself  from  his  official 
ancestry  and  found  a  house  of  his  own  :  he  is  but  a  golden  link 
in  a  golden  chain ;  and  because  we  are  but  links  none  must 
magnify  himself  unduly,  or  suppose  that  he  will  start  a  new 
humanity  in  his  vain  and  frail  personality.  And  again,  and 


100 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  iii.  8. 


still  more  subtly,  does  the  Lord  show  that  all  his  manifestations 
in  and  through  his  officers  are  meant  to  reveal  his  own  glory. 
Human  greatness  is  a  revelation  of  God’s  presence.  Moses  is 
not  great  except  as  God  is  with  him  ;  Joshua  would  be  a  little 
and  unknown  name  if  God  did  not  burn  in  it  and  cause  it  to 
radiate  throughout  the  whole  circumference  of  immediate  history  : 
the  Church  is  not  great  except  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that 
the  great  God  is  within  her  walls.  We  are  to  look  through 
Moses  to  Jehovah;  through  Joshua  to  the  great,  all-inspiring, 
all-construing  God ;  and  through  the  Church,  with  all  its 
ministries  and  instrumentalities,  its  white  lights  and  glorious 
stars  and  great  inheritances,  to  the  all-giving  God.  From  him 
is  every  donation.  There  is  but  one  donor  :  we  are  the 
instruments  in  his  hands.  Do  not  look  at  Moses,  do  not  look  at 
Joshua,  do  not  look  at  the  institutions  of  the  Church,  except  as 
mediums  through  which  we  may  see  the  spiritual  glory  of  the 
eternal  God. 

What  was  Joshua  to  do  ?  You  find  the  answer  in  the  eighth 
verse  : — 

“  And  thou  shalt  command  the  priests  that  bear  the  ark  of  the  covenant, 
saying,  When  ye  are  come  to  the  brink  of  the  water  of  Jordan,  ye  shall 
stand  still  in  Jordan.” 

Go  up  u  to  the  brink,” — that  is  the  point  we  shrink  from.  Many 
will  stay  by  the  meadows,  and  under  the  shadowing  trees,  and 
in  the  gardens  of  flowers,  but  they  will  risk  nothing.  Jordan  is 
pouring  down  from  the  north  :  it  is  the  time  of  the  swelling  of 
the  waters, — what  are  the  priests  to  do  ? — To  go  up  as  if  there 
were  no  waters,  as  if  the  bed  of  Jordan  were  dry  : — go  up  to 
the  brink,  let  your  very  feet  touch  the  water,  and  then — stand 
still !  This  is  difficult,  and  is  not  to  be  lightly  esteemed  by  any 
who  would  hurriedly  read  the  lines  of  providence  and  come  to 
superficial  conclusions  regarding  the  mystery  of  life.  This  is 
divine  boldness  ;  this  is  religious  prudence.  We  are  to  go  up  to 
every  Jordan  as  if  it  had  no  existence.  Everything  will  one  day 
be  under  spiritual  direction.  All  things  shall  obey  the  spiritual 
voice  in  the  day  of  true  glory.  The  day  of  miracles  has  only 
gone  for  a  moment :  it  will  return  when  faith  returns : — if  ye 
had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  would  say  to  this 


Josh.  iii.  9.] 


UP  TO  THE  BRINK. 


101 


mountain,  Be  ye  cast  into  the  depths  of  the  sea, — and  it  would 
fly  from  you  like  a  thing  affrighted.  This  is  the  great  possi- 
bility,  the  daily  and  continual  miracle  of  faith.  We  are  content 
with  small  things ;  we  are  shut  out  by  a  door :  we  return 
saying,  The  door  was  shut, — as  if  any  door  ever  made  by 
finite  skill  and  strength  could  stand  against  the  sovereign  will 
of  the  man  who  is  one  with  God.  We  complain  that  there  is 
danger  coming  down  upon  us — a  great,  rushing,  flying,  lightning 
train, — as  if  we  could  not  split  it  in  two  and  bury  it  by  a 
word  if  we  were  in  right  relations  to  the  Infinite.  We  are  the 
children  of  fear ;  we  say,  There  is  a  lion  in  the  way, — as  if 
the  very  glance  of  faith  could  not  destroy  it  in  every  limb. 
To  speak  so  is  to  speak  to  the  ear  of  timidity  that  which  is 
foolish  and  even  absurd,  but  the  Bible  means  this  or  it  means 
nothing.  Believe  me,  all  things  are  or  shall  be  under  spiritual 
control :  we  shall  command  the  beasts  of  the  field  to  come  to 
us ;  we  shall  call  the  fish  of  the  sea  to  the  shore  or  to  the  boat 
when  we  want  them  :  we  shall  be  like  the  Lord.  It  is  in  this 
direction  we  must  grow ;  nor  can  we  grow  to  it  in  one  day> 
or  perhaps  in  any  measurable  period  of  time ;  it  is  enough, 
meanwhile,  to  have  the  sublime  ideal  and  the  confident  hope, 
and  to  be  moving  quietly  in  that  direction.  We  are  not  called 
unto  the  spirit  of  bondage  and  fear,  but  unto  the  spirit  of 
liberty  and  power  and  a  sound  mind. 

What  effect  had  this  interview  upon  Joshua?  Was  he  so 
magnified  as  to  forget  himself?  You  have  the  answer  in  the 
ninth  verse  : — 

“And  Joshua  said  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Come  hither,  and  hear 
the  words  of  the  Lord  your  God.” 

So  he  is  u  but  minister.”  He  does  not  attempt  any  crude, 
originality.  He  will  simply  repeat  what  he  has  heard,  but  he 
will  repeat  it  as  a  believer.  The  believer  has  an  emphasis 
incommunicable  to  the  hypocrite.  There  is  about  truth  some¬ 
thing  that  endures  so  well,  that  stands  all  friction  so  strongly, 
that  responds  to  all  necessity  so  abundantly,  that  it  cannot 
long  be  counterfeited  :  there  are  masks  sold  for  pence  which 
seem  to  reproduce  it  with  skill,  but  the  masks  become  weather- 
stained,  their  very  skin  peels  off,  and  their  expression  is  lost. 


102 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  iii.  io. 


Truth  stands  for  ever,  night  and  day,  the  same  when  the 
morsels  of  ice  strike  it  in  the  face,  or  the  sun  blesses  it 
with  mid-day  glory.  Joshua  would  but  repeat  what  he  had 
heard.  So  must  every  preacher  simply  read  the  Bible.  If  he 
does  not  quote  texts  he  must  speak  biblically — that  is,  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Bible;  and  he  must  never  wander  one  inch  from 
the  Book:  it  is  his  shield  and  buckler;  it  is  a  strong  tower  to 
which  he  may  continually  resort ;  it  is  his  authority  and 
warrant. 

Joshua  thus  pledges  God  to  what  he  is  about  to  say.  We 
must  not  hesitate  to  risk  the  divine  name.  Joshua  said  : — 

“  Hereby  ye  shall  know  that  the  living  God  is  among  you,  and  that  he 
will  without  fail  drive  out  from  before  you  the  Canaanites,  and  the 
Hittites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Perizzites,  and  Girgashites,  and  the 
Amorites,  and  the  Jebusites  ”  (v.  io). 

Joshua  would  make  the  march  a  religious  one.  The  Christian 
Church  ought  to  make  every  department  of  life  a  department 
of  itself. 

11  Let  us  have  no  suggestion  of  possible  divine  help  under 
such  and  such  circumstances/’ — that  is  the  language  of  timidity, 
and  timidity  is  sin  in  all  such  relations  as  are  indicated  by 
this  history.  We  do  not  simply  hope  that  God  will  be  with 
us,  or  trust  that  God  may  in  due  time  appear  for  us,  or  express 
the  dubious  desire  that  all  things  may  turn  out  better  than 
we  might  have  ventured  to  expect.  That  is  not  religious  talk, 
or  if  it  is  talk  it  is  without  soul,  without  emphasis.  Risk  the 
divine  name, — that  is  to  say,  pledge  it.  This  was  the  strength 
of  the  old  prophets.  If  such  and  such  things  do  not  befall 
thee,  then  God  hath  not  spoken  by  my  mouth ;  “  thus  saith 
the  Lord.”  The  prophets  thus  put  God  in  the  foreground,  and 
made  him  true  or  false  ;  they  pledged  his  name  :  with  reverent 
familiarity  they  put  his  signature  upon  every  great  promise 
and  every  grand  prediction  ;  they  exposed  God  to  criticism,  so 
much  so  that  the  mocker  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity 
and  said,  Ha,  ha,  where  is  now  thy  God  ?  he  called  God  his 
father,  let  him  save  him,  if  he  will  have  him ; — and  the  fool 
wagged  his  head,  and  the  sneerer  laughed  over  his  own  gibe. 
We  have  omitted  the  divine  name  from  our  speech  ;  we  have 
risked  nothing ;  we  have  but  contributed  one  more  to  the 


Josh.  iii.  12.] 


UP  TO  THE  BRINK. 


103 


endless  number  of  suggestions  made  for  the  benefit  and 
progress  of  the  world.  Let  the  good  man  not  hesitate  to  say 
to  the  good-doer — God  shall  be  with  thee,  and  deliver  thee  in 
six  troubles  and  in  seven  ;  and  when  the  day  is  as  the  night 
and  the  night  is  sevenfold  in  blackness,  his  hand  shall  find 
thee  and  his  counsel  shall  be  thy  strength.  These  are  the 
great  speeches, — not  words  that  mothers  might  speak  to  children 
or  fathers  might  whisper  to  sons,  but  the  great  speeches  that 
pledge  eternity,  which,  if  not  carried  out,  would  sweep  all  the 
stars  from  heaven  and  make  the  universe  an  empty  temple. 
To  what  are  we  now  pledging  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son, 
and  God  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  it  is  possible  whilst  professing  a 
religious  faith  to  ignore  it  in  its  practical  applications. 

A  very  beautiful  expression  occurs  in  the  twelfth  verse  : — 

“  Now  therefore  take  you  twelve  men  out  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  out  of 
every  tribe  a  man.” 

It  was  typical  that  the  whole  people  were  interested  in  this 
movement.  What  was  typical  then  ought  to  be  typical  now. 
We  want  “out  of  every  tribe  a  man.”  Into  how  many  tribes 
are  we  divided  ?  We  want  the  rich  man’s  representative ;  we 
do  not  want  his  gold  only,  but  himself — his  life,  as  pledged  in 
some  representative  name.  The  poor  man’s  delegate,  where  is 
he  ?  Let  him  stand  up  in  his  poor  clothing,  in  his  weather-worn 
and  travelled-stained  weakness,  and  say  with  bold  timidity — 
Behold,  I  am  here  and  ready  to  serve.  And  the  young  men’s 
tribe,  where  is  the  David  sent  by  that  multitudinous  host  as 
pledge  and  hostage  ?  Let  him  stand  up, — sunny-faced,  bright¬ 
eyed,  full  of  strength  and  hope,  and  it  may  be  with  a  dash  of 
imprudence  in  his  chivalrous  nature ;  and  let  him  say — Behold,  I 
am  here  in  the  city  of  God,  and  if  there  be  stones  to  carry,  or 
foes  to  fight,  make  what  use  you  can  of  me.  “  Of  every  tribe  a 
man,” — not  that  the  whole  tribe  is  to  be  satisfied  with  the  one 
man,  but  the  one  man  is  to  represent  the  unity  and  consecration 
of  the  tribe.  Who  then  will  be  baptised  for  the  dead  ?  Who 
will  come  and  take  the  place  occupied  by  the  rich  deceased 
leader  ?  Who  will  come  forward  and  say — Poverty  is  not 
ashamed  of  God  or  Christ  or  the  Bible,  and  it  will  do  what  its 
two  little  weak  hands  can  do,  and  do  it  with  hearty  good-will, 


104 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  iii.  13. 


and  the  Cross  itself  shall  not  deter  it  in  its  passion  and 
enthusiasm  ?  “  Of  every  tribe  a  man.”  That  must  be  the 

motto  of  the  Church  ;  that  must  be  the  motto  of  the  family, — not 
any  wicked  theory  of  substitution  or  proxy,  but  the  sublime 
theory  of  representative  and  symbolic  service. 

What  was  to  come  to  pass  when  the  whole  instruction  had 
been  obeyed  ? 

“  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  as  soon  as  the  soles  of  the  feet  of  the  priests 
that  bear  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth,  shall  rest  in  the 
waters  of  Jordan,  that  the  waters  of  Jordan  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  waters 
that  come  down  from  above;  and  they  shall  stand  upon  an  heap”  (v.  13). 

Mark  the  period  :  u  As  soon  as  the  soles  of  the  feet  of  the  priests 
.  .  .  shall  rest  in  the  waters  of  Jordan.”  The  priests  should  go 
forward.  We  cannot  have  the  priests— men  of  bright  mind, 
daring  courage,  simple  faith — lagging  behind,  or  their  practice  will 
contradict  their  preaching.  The  preachers  must  be  at  the  front, 
wherever  there  is  danger  challenging  courage,  wherever  there  is 
risk  defying  confidence.  The  preachers  should  be  the  great 
believers  :  they  should  be  all  faith.  Whoever  else  is  wanting, 
the  Bible-teacher  should  be  present ;  wherever  there  is  peril, 
difficulty,  hardship,  the  preacher  should  subscribe  more  than 
any  other  man  in  the  whole  Church.  It  is  an  infinite 
blasphemy  for  the  preacher  to  write  his  name  second  on  the  list 
of  endurance  or  in  the  records  of  hardship  and  sacrifice.  There 
is  no  irony  bitterer  or  guiltier  than  that  the  priests  should  send 
the  people  first  to  test  the  promises  of  God.  He  is  not  a  priest 
who  is  anywhere  behind.  Listen  not  to  his  plea :  he  is  a 
hireling  and  careth  not  for  the  sheep.  When  Christians  of  the 
highest  type  advance  the  rest  will  follow.  What  I  have  thus 
said  must,  of  course,  be  regarded  as  a  matter  of  proportion.  The 
widow  gave  more  than  all  the  rich  men,  though  she  gave  nothing 
in  comparison.  Let  no  man  attempt  to  escape  on  arithmetical 
grounds,  setting  so  much  on  the  one  side  and  so  much  on  the  other. 
There  is  no  such  law.  How  hateful  is  the  cant  which  says  :  I 
am  waiting  to  see  what  other  people  will  do.  What  right  have 
you  to  wait?  How  long  are  you  going  to  wait?  On  what 
authority  are  you  about  to  wait  ?  To  wait ! — why  that  is  to 
usurp  the  prerogative  of  God !  as  if  you  had  one  moment  of 


Josh.  iii.  13.] 


UP  TO  THE  BRINK. 


105 


time  in  which  you  could  wait  or  could  use  !  and  by  what  right 
does  any  man,  in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it,  stand  up  to  say  that  he 
is  waiting  to  see  what  other  people  will  do  ?  He  is  not  bound 
by  what  they  do  ;  he  is  not  the  custodian  of  their  consciences  ; 
he  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  in  relation  to  them  :  he  must  obey 
the  voice  of  God  in  the  voice  of  conscience.  When  those — let  it 
be  repeated — who  are  Christians  of  the  highest  type  are  found 
at  the  front,  others  will  follow.  There  is  a  contagion  about 
example,  there  is  a  subtle  influence  about  high  courage.  With¬ 
out  saying  a  word  to  the  coward,  you  may  shame  him  into 
action  by  the  magnanimity  of  your  own  bravery.  So  then,  this 
is  the  order  of  the  divine  movement  :  God  calling  the  leading 
man  ;  the  leading  man  expressing  the  divine  will  to  others ;  every 
tribe  contributing  its  man,  so  that  in  symbol  the  whole  tribe  is 
pledged  to  the  holy  march.  Are  the  priests  going  at  the  head, 
the  preachers  answering  their  own  prayers,  responding  to  their 
own  challenges,  living  the  results  of  their  own  appeals  ?  And 
if  any  lag  behind,  who  dare  pray  that  God  may  have  any  pity 
upon  them  ?  There  is  a  lagging  behind  which  cannot  be  helped, 
but  let  us  be  careful  how  we  claim  its  exemption  from  criticism  : 
that  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  God.  Some  are  “faint, 
yet  pursuing ;  ”  some  would  go  fast,  but  they  cannot ;  in  some 
instances  “  the  spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak ;  ” 
where  such  is  found  to  be  the  case,  then  God’s  pity  is  hardly 
large  enough  for  such  frailty  :  God  will  “  have  compassion, 
making  a  difference.”  But  how  can  he  waste  compassion  upon 
any  truly  Christian  man  who  for  a  moment  wavers  when  he 
ought  to  be  at  the  head  of  the  great  procession,  with  nothing 
in  front  of  him  but  Jordan,  and  Jordan  not  in  the  subsidence 
of  its  flow,  but  in  the  very  anger  and  pride  and  scorn  of  its 
strength  ? 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  we  will  think  now  of  thy  redemption  wrought  out  for  us  in 
Christ  Jesus  thy  Son,  and  for  the  moment  we  will  not  be  cast  down  but 
lifted  up  as  upon  a  great  wave  of  gladness.  We  have  been  told  that  we  are 
polluted  and  unholy,  until  the  story  has  thrown  us  into  despair :  we  know  it 
to  be  true  ;  but  now  we  would  turn  our  eyes  unto  the  Cross  set  up  for 
sinners,  the  mystery  of  eternity,  the  enigma  of  time  :  the  angels  cannot  under¬ 
stand  it,  we  are  unable  to  comprehend  all  the  wonders  of  its  love  and  pity, 
but  our  hearts  are  glad  whilst  they  gaze  upon  it :  they  see  beyond  the  pain 
and  the  sorrow  and  the  darkness,  they  behold  great  lights,  opening  heavens, 
expanding  and  assured  liberties,  and  they  are  glad  with  a  great  joy. 
Sorrow  endureth  for  a  night ;  joy  cometh  in  the  morning.  The  night  cannot 
be  so  long  as  the  day.  The  night  of  sin  is  not  thine  ;  the  bow  of  peace  is  thine, 
and  high  noon,  all  the  firmament  glowing  with  light-seeds,  and  is  some 
faint  type  of  thine  infinite  glory.  The  night  shall  be  lost ;  it  shall  never 
come  again;  that  cloud  shall  be  broken  up  and  dissolved  and  for  ever  for¬ 
gotten.  But  the  light  of  thy  countenance  shall  be  heaven,  the  glory  of  thy 
presence  shall  make  the  whole  home  of  the  saints.  We  will  therefore  be  glad 
and  rejoice,  and  find  in  thine  house  a  place  of  banqueting  and  feasting,  so  that 
the  soul  may  be  made  fat  with  the  promises  of  God  and  our  life  be  made 
strong  by  divine  encouragement.  We  have  come  from  many  places  into  one 
house  :  is  not  this  a  hint  of  what  shall  be  in  the  great  future  of  promise  and 
prediction?  Shall  we  not  come  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  from  the 
north  and  from  the  south,  and  sit  down  in  our  father’s  house  ?  Shall  not 
all  alienations  be  forgotten,  and  all  differences  be  absorbed,  and  all  hearts  be 
united  in  one  commmon  and  everlasting  loyalty  ?  This  is  our  prospect  in 
Christ  Jesus ;  to  this  end  he  came  and  taught  and  suffered  and  died  and  rose 
again  ;  nor  can  he  rest  whilst  one  shadow  of  sin  rests  on  the  fair  universe  : 
behold,  he  is  pledged  to  receive  unto  himself  the  very  ends  of  the  earth  :  all 
the  heathen  shall  be  his,  all  kings  shall  bow  down  before  him,  and  gold  and 
incense  bring.  May  we  enter  into  the  spirit  of  this  joy ;  may  we  feel  that  the 
slavery  of  the  past  is  forgiven,  forgotten,  and  that  a  great  future  of  light  and 
growth  and  liberty  challenges  and  encourages  the  soul.  Wherever  a  burden 
is  too  heavy  for  the  strength,  Lord,  increase  the  power  of  endurance  ;  wher¬ 
ever  the  tears  cannot  be  explained,  do  thou  speak  a  message  to  the  heart  in 
secret;  wherever  the  perplexity  is  thick  and  defiant,  persisting  in  its  stub¬ 
bornness  notwithstanding  all  that  human  skill  can  do,  come  from  thy  sanctuary 
and  help  the  perplexed  ;  wherever  sin  is  a  spectre  in  the  air,  a  touch  in  the 
darkness,  a  flash  of  fire  in  the  conscience,  show  thy  Cross,  thou  Saviour  of  the 
world,  and  save  the  creation  of  God.  Thus  ccme  to  us  every  one  now  and 


Josh.  iv.  1-3.] 


MEMORIAL  STONES . 


I07 


at  all  times,  and  thy  coming  shall  be  like  the  dawning  of  the  day,  and  like 
the  opening  of  a  great  door  which  leads  us  into  home  and  peace  and  plenti¬ 
fulness.  Amen. 

Joshua  iv. 

1.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  all  the  people  were  clean  passed  over  Jordan, 
that  the  Lord  spake  unto  Joshua,  saying, 

2.  Take  you  twelve  men  out  of  the  people,  out  of  every  tribe  a  man. 

3.  And  command  ye  them,  saying,  Take  you  hence  out  of  the  midst  of  Jor¬ 
dan,  out  of  the  place  where  the  priests’  feet  stood  firm,  twelve  stones,  and  ye 
shall  carry  them  over  with  you,  and  leave  them  in  the  lodging  place,  where 
ye  shall  lodge  this  night. 


MEMORIAL  STONES. 

THUS  a  memorial  was  to  be  set  up,  commemorating  the 
power  and  goodness  of  God.  The  way  of  life  should  be 
full  of  such  cairns.  But  is  it  not  early  in  the  history  to  be  setting 
up  stones  of  memory  ?  The  battle  has  not  begun.  Israel  did 
not  march  forth  to  cross  a  river  but  to  overthrow  a  city  well- 
walled  and  hoary  with  antiquity.  Is  it  not,  then,  rather  earlyl 
in  the  day  to  be  building  altars  and  to  be  setting  up  signs  of 
triumph  ?  It  is  in  putting  such  questions  as  these  that  we  show 
the  littleness  of  our  faith.  In  all  great  spiritual  controversy  the 
beginning  is  the  end.  The  whole  history  is  in  one  sentence. 
The  entire  history  of  the  human  race  is  in  the  first  few  chapters 
of  Genesis ;  all  the  rest  has  been  translation,  variation,  rearrange¬ 
ment  of  particles  and  individualities  and  colours  ;  but  the  soul 
of  the  history  is  all  there.  With  God  the  end  and  the  beginning 
are  one.  To  have  crossed  Jordan  is  to  have  torn  down  all  the 
Jerichos  that  opposed  us.  One  step  is  the  pledge  of  another. 
The  first  miracle  is  the  pledge  of  the  last.  He  who  turns  water 
into  wine  at  the  beginning  will  raise  himself  from  the  dead  at  the 
end.  The  miracles  are  one.  One  miracle  carries  with  it  all  the 
host  of  wonders.  So  it  is  in  all  the  departments  of  properly- 
regulated  and  disciplined  life.  It  is  so  in  any  properly-graduated 
system  of  education.  He  who  has  conquered  one  book  has 
conquered  all  books.  The  reason  why  men  do  not  conquer  the 
third  book  is’  that  they  have  not  conquered  the  first.  No  student 
can  set  himself  heart  and  soul  to  the  mastery  of  the  First  Book 
of  Euclid  without  therein  and  thereby  mastering  the  next  and  the 
next,  until  the  very  end.  There  must  be  no  paltering,  no  half 


io8 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  iv.  1-3. 


and  half  work,  no  touching  the  labour  with  reluctant  and  dainty 
fingers,  but  a  real  tussle,  a  tremendous  wrestling,  at  the  first. 
Jordan  passed,  Jericho  shall  totter  and  fall.  Why  is  the  Church 
so  hesitant  and  uncertain  in  its  movement  ?  Perhaps  because  it 
does  nothing  firmly  and  completely ;  it  may  not  have  mastered  * 
its  first  principles ;  it  may  have  considered  itself  altogether  too 
advanced  in  life  to  trouble  itself  with  elementary  theologies  and 
considerations,  but  so  considering  it  will  never  take  any  Jericho. 
The  place  of  evil  will  have  faces  at  every  window  smiling  upon 
its  furious  feebleness.  The  devil  will  open  his  idol-temples 
shoulder  by  shoulder  with  any  cathedral  or  minster  we  can 
build  ;  he  says — These  people  did  not  perform  the  first  miracle  : 
they  never  got  through  Jordan ;  they  are  still  splashing  in  the 
waters  that  lave  the  brink  of  the  channel ;  they  are  not  complete 
students,  they  are  not  well-equipped  thinkers;  they  have  nothing 
in  their  hearts  they  are  quite  sure  about ;  they  are  changing  all 
the  time, — now  it  is  a  great  argument  which  none  can  comprehend, 
now  it  is  a  radiant  cloud  on  which  no  man  can  satisfy  his  hunger, 
now  it  is  an  elaborate  and  pompous  programme  without  a 
beginning  and  without  an  end  and  without  any  reason  for  its 
existence  at  all ; — these  people  will  never  fight  me ;  if  they  could 
but  get  hold  of  one  thing  and  be  perfectly  certain  of  that  my  days 
would  be  numbered,  but  they  have  nothing  in  the  possession  of 
certitude ;  they  call  themselves  “  honest  doubters  ”  and  “  patient 
inquirers,”  and  whilst  they  are  doubting  and  inquiring  I  am 
digging  hell  miles  deeper.  Could  we  but  really  read  one  book  of 
the  Bible,  could  we  but  hold  one  Gospel  in  our  hearts,  could  we 
but  get  hold  of  something  and  say,  This  one  thing  I  have  and 
know  and  use, — all  the  rest  would  come  in  happy  sequence.  So 
it  was  not  too  early  to  set  up  a  cairn  on  the  one  side  of  the  bank 
and  on  the  other  side  of  the  bank.  We  must  have  memorials 
in  life.  If  we  do  not  set  up  stony  memorials  we  shall  still  leave 
footprints.  Every  man  has  his  history,  and  every  man  has  had 
his  opportunity  and  has  left  behind  him  a  record  as  to  its  use  or 
abuse.  Blessed  is  the  life  that  is  full  of  memorial  stones  !  It 
ought  never  to  be  far  back  to  the  last  one ;  and  if  whilst  we  are 
building  the  next  one  the  enemy  should  suddenly  come  down 
upon  us  in  some  black  suggestion,  in  some  terrific  temptation,  we 
should  flee  back  to  the  memorial  last  put  up,  and,  under  the 


> 


i 


Josh.  iv.  1-3.] 


MEMORIAL  STONES. 


109 


shadow  of  that  Ebenezer,  calmly  await  the  future.  Why  this 
unbuilt  life  ?  Why  this  life  without  any  pillar  of  stone  or  temple 
behind  it  ?  What  wonder  if  in  turning  round  and  seeing  nothing 
a  great  fear  should  seize  us,  and  we  should  suppose  that  we  had 
been  given  over  to  the  enemy  of  souls  ?  There  should  hardly 
be  one  step  between  one  memorial  stone  and  another,  so  that  * 
we  may  instantly  retire  for  a  moment  to  recruit  our  strength  and 
renew  our  hope  and  confidence  in  God.  How  mean  are  some 
lives  in  this  matter  of  erecting  no  memorial ;  no  diary  is  kept,  no 
journal  is  posted  up,  no  entry  written,  it  may  be  in  a  trembling 
hand,  but  yet  setting  forth  the  formula :  The  true  God  was  with 
me  to-day ;  he  helped  me  to  cross  the  river,  he  enabled  me  to 
run  through  a  troop  and  to  leap  over  a  wall ;  and  though  I  can 
scarcely  read  the  words  yet  I  will  inscribe  them  every  one  and 
come  back  to  them  as  to  a  Bible  and  to  a  revelation.  Men  who 
live  in  times  of  haste  say  they  have  no  leisure  for  such  enterings. 
The  enterings  need  not  be  literal :  we  need  not  be  talking  about 
material  paper  and  ink,  but  about  the  tablets  of  the  heart,  the 
records  of  the  memory,  always  having  a  vivid  recollection  of  the 
last  deliverance,  the  last  vision,  the  last  mighty  prayer,  the  last 
sublime  victory.  There  is  no  other  way  in  which  to  make  life 
rich  and  thoughtful.  When  accused,  we  should  be  able  to  flee 
back  to  God’s  last  record;  when  tempted  to  disbelieve  him,  we 
should  go  back  to  the  last  fact.  Our  life  should  not  be  a  mys¬ 
terious  argument,  in  the  processes  of  which  we  may  be  vexed 
and  troubled  by  subtler  intellects  than  our  own  :  life  should 
be  its  own  fact,  its  own  confirmation  of  spiritual  truths,  its  own 
sanctuary,  its  own  refuge.  Have  the  witness  in  yourselves.  Do 
not  wait  for  posterity  to  build  the  cairns ;  build  your  own 
memorials.  Posterity  will  come  and  read  them,  but  we  might 
build  our  own  altars,  set  up  our  own  standards,  and  furl  our  own 
banners,  and  accept  the  responsibility,  as  we  have  received  the 
reward,  of  our  own  religion.  So  building  we  should  crowd  out 
all  unworthy  houses.  We  should  want  every  inch  of  land.  The 
whole  earth  would  be  filled  with  the  divine  presence  and  glory. 
Every  room  in  the  house  would  be  a  church  ;  every  window  in  the 
dwelling  would  look  towards  the  Jerusalem  that  is  above ;  every 
chair  would  be  an  altar ; — the  whole  dwelling  would  burn  with 
unconsuming  fire.  We  cannot,  then,  begin  too  soon.  The 


IIO 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  iv.  6,  7. 


moment  the  first  conviction  is  wrought  in  the  mind,  build  a 
stone  memorial ;  the  moment  you  are  conscious  of  having  taken 
:  the  first  real  step  in  advance,  build  ;  vow  never  to  retire  behind 
that  building,  for  it  begins  your  best  history,  it  points  towards 
your  broadest,  brightest  future. 

We  have  spoken  of  posterity.  The  cairn  was  to  be  a  sign 
among  the  Israelites  : — 

“That  this  may  be  a  sign  among  you,  that  when  your  children  ask  their 
fathers  in  time  to  come,  saying,  What  mean  ye  by  these  stones  ?  Then  ye 
shall  answer  them,  That  the  waters  of  Jordan  were  cut  off  before  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  of  the  Lord ;  when  it  passed  over  Jordan,  the  waters  of  Jordan 
were  cut  off :  and  these  stones  shall  be  for  a  memorial  unto  the  children  of 
Israel  for  ever  ”  (vv.  6,  7) 

Blessed  indeed  is  he  to  whom  such  inquiries  are  put ;  they 
create  for  him  a  splendid  opportunity  of  usefulness.  What  was 
the  answer  to  be  ? — argumentative,  controversial,  suggestive  ? 
Was  it  to  be  a  guess  attached  to  a  riddle  very  profound  and 
difficult  ?  Nothing  of  the  kind  :  it  was  to  be  a  recital  of  history  : 
— This  was  done ;  on  such  and  such  a  day  this  was  ac¬ 
complished.  Are  there  questions  and  facts  in  our  lives  ?  Do  we 
live  in  a  troubled  cloud,  or  in  a  house  which  hath  foundations 
whose  builder  and  maker  is  God  ?  When  children  ask  you 
questions  about  grey  hairs,  and  wrinkles  in  the  face,  and  sighs 
that  have  no  words,  and  smiles  too  bright  to  be  carved  upon 
the  radiant  face  by  the  hands  of  hypocrisy, — when  they  ask 
you  about  kneeling  at  the  altar,  speaking  into  the  vacant  air, 
and  uttering  words  to  an  unseen  and  invisible  Presence, — when 
they  interrogate  you  about  your  great  psalms  and  hymns  and 
anthem-bursts  of  thankfulness,  what  is  your  reply  to  these  ?  Do 
not  be  ashamed  of  the  history.  Keep  steadily  along  the  line 
of  fact.  Say  what  happened  to  you ,  and  magnify  God  in  the 
hearing  of  the  inquirer.  This  every  man  can  do.  He  may 
not  be  able  to  have  a  philosophy  of  history  conceived  and 
evolved  by  his  own  genius,  but  every  man  must  know  his 
own  story,  and  be  able  to  speak  about  his  own  experience, 
and  to  explain  in  some  degree  his  indebtedness  to  the  infinite 
power  and  goodness  of  God.  Thus  we  shall  have  a  building 
Church,  a  speaking  Church,  an  explaining  Church, — every  man 


Josh.  iv.  6,  7.] 


MEMORIAL  STONES. 


hi 


keeping  upon  the  rock  of  his  own  experience,  and  uttering  the 
music  of  his  own  consciousness,  and  staggering  the  inquirer 
whose  flippancy  had  supposed  it  had  overflowed  the  mysteries 
of  spiritual  communion.  More  personality  of  reference,  a  deeper 
individuality  of  experience,  perfectly  consistent  with  the  most 
beautiful  modesty,  is  what  we  want  in  the  affirmation  of  great 
truths  and  the  illustration  of  great  precepts.  The  children  would 
ask,  11  What  mean  ye  by  these  stones  ?  ”  The  stones  were  so 
shaped  that  they  could  not  have  put  themselves  into  their 
positions.  Walking  along  the  common  road  we  have  stones 
enough,  the  desert  is  full  of  stones  ;  nobody  thinks  of  asking 
about  the  quality  of  the  stones,  who  put  them  there,  or  what 
is  meant  by  their  being  there ;  they  are  dumb  stones,  stones 
without  sermons  ;  they  are  stones  astray ;  they  are  not  in  line, 
they  are  without  related  shape  and  colour ;  so  they  are  passed 
by  without  heed  on  the  part  of  the  traveller.  But  when  sUbnes 
have  actually  taken  shape,  when  one  stone  is  upon  another,  and 
stone  is  added  to  stone  until  a  wall  is  built,  and  when  the  wall 
turns  the  angle  and  becomes  another  wall  on  the  other  side, 
and  again  reverts  and  so  completes  the  square,  people  know 
that  the  stones  could  not  have  put  themselves  in  that  relation. 
Here  questioning  becomes  intelligent ;  here  questioning  may 
become  necessary  to  every  man  who  *  would  master  somewhat 
of  human  history  and  the  significance  of  the  great  tragedy  of 
human  life.  Is  it  so  with  us  ?  Are  the  stones  which  we  might 
have  used  still  lying  about  the  road,  without  being  put  together, 
related,  or  built  up  into  any  intelligible  and  useful  shape  ? — 
stones  enough,  building  material  enough,  but  all  lying  without 
plan — a  hideous  chaos.  Who  would  ask  questions  about  such 
shapelessness,  except  as  suggestive  of  amazement  that  men 
could  have  been  so  indolent,  or  unwise,  or  so  insane  ?  The  very 
life-building  should  be  so  well  put  together  that  men  ought 
and  must  ask  questions  about  it,  saying  thus :  What  a  character 
that  is;  what  a  noble  life;  what  copious  accommodation  for  all 
kinds  of  poverty,  weakness,  distress,  friendlessness !  what  a 
summer  outlook — how  large,  and  how  truly  built  for  hospitality 
rather  than  for  selfishness  !  Who  built  that  house  ?  Who  owns 
it  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  that  life-edifice  ?  It  is  possible,  on 
the  other  hand,  so  to  live  that  no  man  will  ever  ask  a  question 


112 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  iv.  6,7. 


about  us, — so  commonplace,  so  poor,  so  wanting  in  all  the 
higher  suggestiveness,  so  selfish,  isolated,  and  so  utterly  desti¬ 
tute  of  sweet  philanthropies,  that  men  pass  us  by  as  they 
might  pass  by  ruins  which  have  not  even  the  advantage  of 
antiquity.  How  shall  it  be  with  us  ?  Blessed  are  they  whose 
lives  suggest  questions  !  — more  blessed  still  they  whose  explana¬ 
tions  magnify  the  glory  of  God  1 


History  should  be  matter  of  interest  to  all  men,  and  in  all 
history  we  should  be  able  to  identify  Providence  with  the  past 
and  to  speak  of  the  wonders  of  the  days  of  old.  Here  there 
ought  to  be  no  mystery  and  no  doubt.  The  wonders  of 
redemption  may  lie  far  from  our  intellectual  grasp,  but  the 
goodness  of  providence  should  lie  quite  handy  to  every  man. 
Every  intelligent  man  should  be  able  to  say — Be  the  mysteries 
what  they  may,  it  is  perfectly  certain  that  this  life  of  ours  is 
bound,  limited,  directed  :  its  ambitions  are  checked,  its  blood¬ 
thirstiness  cannot  go  beyond  a  certain  range  ;  it  is  watched ; — 
at  all  events  that  is  the  best  explanation  of  life  which  we  have 
yet  discovered  ;  it  is  so  near  being  almighty,  and  yet  so  near 
being  powerless :  now  it  stands  upon  some  eminence  as  if  it 
would  be  lord  of  all,  and  presently  it  overreaches  itself  and 
falls  down  in  utterest  humiliation ;  we  are  watched,  barred  in, 
shut  up.  We  go  certain  lengths  as  if  we  could  go  ten  times 
farther,  and,  lo,  in  a  moment,  a  great  wall  of  darkness  asserts 
the  limit  and  defines  the  prison.  On  this  matter  of  Providence 
there  ought  to  be  no  uncertain  sound.  It  is  not  supposable 
that  any  life  amongst  us  has  not  within  itself  elements  suffi¬ 
cient  for  the  construction  of  a  practical  argument  on  behalf  of  a 
living,  loving  Providence.  But  are  there  not  many  broken  lives, 
sad  hearts,  perplexed  souls?  Unquestionably  there  are;  but 
there  are  men  who  have  seen  God  even  in  darkness  and  have 
acknowledged  his  hand  even  amid  the  chastening  of  affliction; 
there  are  men  who  have  said,  “Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will 
I  trust  in  him.”  There  was  one  singer  so  valiant  in  spiritual 
music  that  when  all  nature  seemed  to  be  given  up  to  silence 
and  despair  he  said,  “Although  the  fig  tree  shall  not  blossom 
.  .  .  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation;” — my  religion 


Josh.  iv.  6,  7.] 


MEMORIAL  STONES. 


”3 


is  not  an  affair  of  abundant  herbs  and  plentiful  harvests  and 
green  meadows  :  I  live  in  the  sanctuary  of  God’s  love,  and  as 
a  child  adopted  into  his  family  I  will  sing  as  loudly  in  winter 
as  in  summer  :  I  will  make  up  for  the  inhospitableness  of  the 
desert  by  the  loudness  and  sweetness  of  my  song.  So  we 
must  not  retire  upon  our  desertions,  difficulties,  broken-hearted¬ 
nesses,  and  say,  Whoever  may  have  arguments,  we  have  none. 
It  is  possible  for  ruins  to  be  so  shaped  and  so  left  as  to  excite 
inquiry,  touch  commiseration,  and  awaken  reverence. 

Thus  miracles  were  to  be  brought  within  the  lines  of  history  : 
the  time  was  to  come  when  men  would  speak  about  miracles  as 
they  would  speak  about  the  commonplaces  of  life.  The  miracle 
is  very  startling  at  first,  but  there  comes  a  time  when  men  can 
write  about  the  miracles  with  hands  that  do  not  tremble,  with  a 
certitude  in  which  there  is  no  flutter.  At  first  they  amazed  and 
stupefied :  we  questioned  their  possibility ;  but  by  living  along 
that  line,  moving  steadily  step  by  step  along  that  course,  we 
come  to  a  period  when  we  can  write  about  a  miracle  as  if  it  were 
a  common  occurrence,  when  we  can  sing  the  sublimest  poetry 
as  if  it  were  glorified  prose,  when  our  prayer  gradually  ascends 
into  praise.  Do  not,  therefore,  be  deterred  by  men  who  ask 
questions  about  the  miracles,  and  especially  by  those  men  who 
have  proved  to  their  own  satisfaction  that  miracles  are  impos¬ 
sible.  There  is  nothing  so  impossible  to  my  imagination  as  the 
existence  of  a  man  who  can  deny  miracles.  He  indeed  is  an 
enigma  in  the  course  of  my  reading.  How  he  can  have  unmade 
himself,  choked  the  angel  within  him,  suffocated  the  infant  spirit, 
— how  he  can  have  been  guilty  of  this  infanticide  I  cannot  tell :  I 
must  leave  him  to  be  expounded  by-and-by.  Meanwhile,  my 
own  life  springs  up  into  a  daily  miracle — a  miracle  every 
moment,  a  day  crowned  with  wonders ;  and  the  time  comes 
when  we  speak  about  these  things  as  if  they  were  commonplaces 
— not  in  the  sense  of  being  unsuggestive  or  unworthy  of  heed, 
but  in  the  sense  of  being  so  abundant  that  we  have  come  to 
regard  them  with  reverent  familiarity,  and  to  expect  them  as  men 
expect  the  miracle  of  the  harvest.  Yes,  the  miracle  of  the 
harvest !  The  seed  is  sown  and  left  in  the  cold  earth,  but  the 
whole  chemic  ministry  of  nature  works  upon  it :  the  dew  and 
the  rain  ;  the  morning  does  its  work,  and  the  evening  continues 
vol.  v.  8 


H4 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  iv.  6,  7. 


its  labour ;  and  by-and-by  the  seed  springs  up  some  thirty, 
some  sixty,  some  an  hundredfold,  without  a  stain  of  earth 
upon  it,  pure  as  if  it  had  grown  downwards  from  the  sky, 
— a  great  golden  answer  to  the  prayer  of  industry.  Miracles  ! 
The  air  is  full  of  them,  life  throbs  with  them.  We  have  been  so 
blind  that  we  have  not  seen  them,  or  so  fond  of  doubt  that  we 
have  questioned  their  possibility.  If  we  were  to  live  in  God  we 
would  live  as  God,  and  the  coming  and  the  going  of  nature — the 
perpetual  miracle — would  be  the  perpetual  rest.  O  that  men 
were  wise,  that  they  understood  these  things  !  This  was  the 
Church  of  sacred  romance.  We  have  left  romance  out  of  the 
history  of  the  Church  now.  It  is  a  question  of  surface,  of  bulk, 
of  statistics,  of  movable  figures.  Would  God  the  day  of  sacred 
romance  would  return  when  great  things  were  attempted  and 
great  things  done  in  the  name  of  the  Almighty  God  ! 

There  is  a  Jordan  before  every  one  of  us.  That  Jordan 
must  be  passed.  We  call  it  Death.  We  speak  of  it  as  the 
black  last  river.  We  talk  of  it  sometimes  as  in  swelling  in¬ 
dignation  and  fury,  and  ask  what  shall  we  do  in  the  swellings 
of  Jordan?  To  the  Christian,  Jordan  is  already  past.  In  a 
material,  physical,  and  limited  sense  the  little  conquest  has  yet  to 
be  won,  but  in  all  its  spiritual  significance  and  glory  Jordan  is 
dried  up,  and  they  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  great  priest  of 
the  everlasting  covenant,  walk  through  the  bed  of  the  river  as 
upon  dry  ground.  This  is  our  Christian  confidence,  this  is  our 
spiritual  hope,  this  is  our  standing  in  life.  Death  is  abolished. 
The  miracles  have  been  completed  in  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  All  that  follows  will  follow  like  a  cadence,  without 
effort, — a  sweet  necessity,  the  logic  of  poetry. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  thou  art  always  drying  up  rivers  before  us,  or  Red  Seas,  or 
beating  down  mountains,  or  making  straight  that  which  is  crooked.  Thy 
love  is  a  daily  concern  for  us,  leaving  nothing  untouched  and  unblessed,  but 
covering  the  whole  sphere  of  our  life  as  with  summer  sunshine.  We  bless 
thee  for  thy  love,  for  we  live  in  it.  Thy  love  encourages  us,  inspires  and 
sustains  us,  and  makes  the  wilderness  into  a  fruitful  field.  We  know  thy 
love  in  providence :  we  see  it  everywhere  every  day ;  but  we  see  thy  love 
most  of  all  in  the  Cross  of  Jesus  Christ,  thy  Son,  and  looking  upon  the  Cross 
we  say,  Herein  is  love ;  and  we  hear  thy  voice  saying  thou  didst  so  love  the 
world  as  to  create  and  glorify  this  Cross.  At  the  Cross  we  bow  ;  at  the  Cross 
we  wait ;  here  is  forgiveness  and  here  alone.  This  is  the  beginning  of  a  new 
life  ;  this  is  a  gate  opening  upon  eternal  blessedness.  We  therefore  glory 
in  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  have  no  other  glory,  by  reason  of  its  celestial 
majesty.  It  is  the  voice  of  God  to  the  pleading  of  man,  the  answer  of  mercy 
to  the  demand  of  law.  May  we  love  the  Cross  more  and  more,  dying  upon  it 
with  Christ,  with  Christ  buried,  with  Christ  rising,  crowned,  and  sharing  his 
throne.  May  this  be  our  life-word ;  may  this  be  the  speech  of  our  tongue 
and  the  testimony  of  our  conduct,  that  we  live,  yet  not  we,  but  that  Christ 
liveth  in  us,  and  that  the  life  which  we  now  live  in  the  flesh  we  live  by  faith 
on  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us.  As  for  rivers,  thou 
didst  make  them  flow,  and  thou  canst  make  them  cease  ;  as  for  the  desert, 
it  is  of  thine  own  ordination,  and  thou  canst  turn  it  into  a  garden  more  beauti¬ 
ful  than  paradise.  About  these  things  we  have  no  fear;  we  are  in  God’s 
hands  and  God’s  love.  What  fear  v/e  have  relates  to  sin,  guiltiness  of  soul, 
forfeiture  of  sonship  and  standing  in  the  family  of  God  ;  and  herein  where 
our  fear  abounds,  the  glory  of  thy  love  abounds  still  more,  so  that  we  have 
yet  hope  in  the  prison-house,  and  are  assured  that  our  sins,  which  are  many, 
are  all  forgiven  us.  In  this  faith  we  live ;  in  this  faith  we  serve ;  in  this  faith 
we  would  die.  Amen. 


Joshua  iv.  15-24. 

15.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Joshua,  saying, 

16.  Command  the  priests  that  bear  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  that  they 
come  up  out  of  Jordan. 

17.  Joshua  therefore  commanded  the  priests,  saying,  Come  ye  up  out  of 
Jordan. 

18.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  priests  that  bare  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord  were  come  up  out  of  the  midst  of  Jordan,  and  the  soles 


n6 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  iv.  15-24. 


of  the  priests’  feet  were  lifted  up  unto  the  dry  land,  that  the  waters  of  Jordan 
returned  unto  their  place,  and  flowed  over  all  his  banks,  as  they  did  before. 

19.  And  the  people  came  up  out  of  Jordan  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  first 
month,  and  encamped  in  Gilgal,  in  the  east  border  of  Jericho. 

20.  And  those  tw’elve  stones,  which  they  took  out  of  Jordan,  did  Joshua 
pitch  in  Gilgal. 

21.  And  he  spake  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  When  your  children 
shall  ask  their  fathers  in  time  to  come,  saying,  What  mean  these  stones  ? 

22.  Then  ye  shall  let  your  children  know,  saying,  Israel  came  over  this 
Jordan  on  dry  land. 

23.  For  the  Lord  your  God  dried  up  the  waters  of  Jordan  from  before  you, 
until  ye  were  passed  over,  as  the  Lord  your  God  did  to  the  Red  sea,  which 
he  dried  up  from  before  us,  until  we  were  gone  over : 

24.  That  all  the  people  of  the  earth  might  know  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  that 
it  is  mighty  :  that  ye  might  fear  the  Lord  your  God  for  ever. 


COMING  UP  OUT  OP  JORDAN. 


HE  Canaanites  might  reasonably  have  looked  upon  the 


X  Jordan  as  one  of  their  natural  defences.  This  it  was  at  all 
times,  but  it  was  to  all  human  appearance  more  so  at  this  season 
than  at  other  periods  of  the  year.  Springing  among  the  spurs 
of  the  Lebanon,  at  a  great  height  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
becoming  first  Lake  Merom,  and  then  expanding  into  the  Lake 
Tiberias,  so  large  and  important  that  it  was  called  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  its  impetuous  course  terminated  in  the  Dead  Sea.  It 
would  seem  to  have  been  made  to  roll  just  where  it  did  that  it 
might  be  a  natural  protection  or  defence  for  the  people  upon  the 
side  of  the  Canaanites.  The  time  of  this  history  was  April  or 
May.  We  know  from  another  passage  that  it  was  the  harvest  of 
flax  and  barley ;  all  the  snow  upon  Hermon  had  melted,  and  was 
pouring  down  into  the  valley  through  which  the  swollen  torrent 
plunged  and  roared  on  its  way  to  the  Dead  Sea.  The  time  of  the 
year  is  thus  worth  noticing;  it  was  a  time  at  which  the  Jordan 
was  in  the  very  pride  of  its  fulness  and  strength.  It  has  been 
pointed  out  as  a  striking  contrast  that  “when  the  Goths,  in  the 
fifth  century,  nearly  a  million  of  people,  crossed  the  Danube  to 
seek  a  home  in  the  south  of  Europe,  they  had  a  fleet  of  vessels 
at  their  command ;  yet  the  crossing  of  the  Goths  occupied  many 
days,  and  many  lives  were  lost  in  the  passage.”  Be  it  observed, 
then,  that  the  writers  make  no  doubt  as  to  the  reality  of  this 
miracle.  Fifty  days  later  the  wheat  harvest  would  have  set  in, 


Josh.  iv.  15-24.]  COMING  UP  OUT  OF  JORDA N. 


117 


and  at  the  time  of  the  wheat  harvest  Jordan  had  considerably 
subsided.  Sceptical  critics  might  therefore  have  said  that  the 
Israelites  crossed  at  low  water ;  there  were  many  shallow  places 
in  the  channel,  and  no  doubt  they  took  advantage  of  the  sub¬ 
sidence  of  the  river  in  order  to  cross.  But  the  sacred  historian 
makes  it  very  clear  that  the  Jordan  was  at  its  height :  there  was 
no  mistake  about  its  fulness  and  urgency;  so  we  have  to  deal 
with  the  facts  as  we  find  them  stated  in  the  record.  There  is 
happily  confirmatory  evidence  as  to  the  time  at  which  the  Israelites 
passed,  and  that  evidence  tends  to  show  that  the  river  must  have 
been  at  its  fullest.  Nature  only  apparently  protects  doomed  men. 
We  can  imagine  the  Canaanites  on  their  side  of  the  river  thinking 
that  nature  was  in  their  interest,  that  nature  was  concerned  for 
them,  and  had  provided  a  defence  inviolable  ;  but  nature  is  never 
on  the  side  of  the  doomed  man  ;  certainly  nature  is  never  on  the 
side  of  the  bad  man  ;  even  if  apparently  so,  it  is  in  appearance 
only,  and  not  in  reality ;  there  is  not  a  stone  in  the  field  that  is 
not  at  enmity  with  him  ;  there  is  not  a  beast  browsing  on  any  hill 
that  does  not  count  him  a  foe.  This  is  the  deep  interpretation  of 
things.  Appearances  notwithstanding,  let  us  set  it  down  as  a 
very  clear  line  in  our  book  of  serious  reflection  that  the  whole 
earth  casts  out  the  bad  man,  and  would  not  give  him  accommoda¬ 
tion  or  offer  him  hospitality,  and  at  best  would  consent  to  the 
humiliation  of  providing  him  a  grave.  The  strongest  defences 
are  worthless  if  our  character  be  not  sound  and  righteous  in  the 
sight  of  God ;  inroads  can  be  made  upon  all  securities,  and  will 
be  made;  and  we  shall  be  overthrown  just  in  proportion  to  our 
guilt  and  corruptness.  li  I  have  seen  the  wicked  in  great  power, 
and  spreading  himself  like  a  green  bay  tree.”  There  is  no  doubt 
about  the  appearance ;  the  security  was  to  all  human  vision 
ample  and  complete,  but  when  God  is  against  a  man  what  wall 
can  build  him  out  ?  When  character  is  wrong  and  judgment  is 
coming,  what  hand  dare  hold  itself  up  to  keep  back  the  lightning 
of  just  penalty  ?  It  is  in  the  time  of  fancied  security  that  we  are 
often  overthrown.  God  delights  to  stain  the  pride  of  all  glory. 
He  would  seem  almost  in  his  providence  to  wait  until  we  have 
reached  the  very  culmination  of  our  strength  ;  and  when  we  say, 
Now  we  are  safely  lodged  within  walls  which  cannot  be  shaken 
or  burned,  then  he  shows  the  greatness  of  his  strength,  and  puts 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  iv.  15-24. 


118 


forth  his  arm  to  find  us  in  our  hidden  securities.  We  cannot 
build  out  the  lightning ;  we  cannot  build  out  God  when  he  comes 
in  judgment.  We  may  withhold  our  consent  when  he  makes 
propositions ;  we  may  reject  his  mercy  and  slay  his  Son ;  but  in 
the  time  of  judgment  we  have  no  will,  no  power,  no  answer  to 
the  infinite  challenges  of  God. 

Why  dwell  upon  the  merely  local  incidents  connected  with  this 
narration  when  we  know  that  there  are  crossings  in  life  which 
our  power  did  not  accomplish  ?  Strip  the  record  of  everything 
that  appears  to  be  romantic  or  unduly  excited — all  that  touches 
what  we  may  believe  to  be  the  incredible ;  yet  there  remains  in 
our  own  history  the  fact  that  we  have  accomplished  transitions 
and  passages  which  we  never  completed  in  our  own  strength 
or  by  our  own  wisdom.  We  cannot  tell  how  the  difficulty  was 
crossed,  but  that  it  is  crossed  we  know  well.  Did  we  cross 
it  in  our  sleep  ?  Was  it  a  dream-bridge  that  spanned  the 
chasm  ?  How  did  we  get  upon  this  side,  where  all  is  fertility 
and  hopefulness  and  contentment  ?  How  did  we  come  into  this 
estate  ?  We  remember  confusedly  opposition,  battle,  natural 
difficulty — the  natural  difficulty  being  the  worst  of  all :  the 
disadvantage  of  birth,  early  life,  a  thousand  oppositions  that 
crowded  upon  us — far,  far  back  in  the  morning  of  memory ;  yet 
here  we  are  this  day  in  a  fruitful  place,  under  a  blue  sky,  and 
the  morning  comes  without  threatening,  and  the  whole  heaven 
seems  to  make  way  for  the  sun  that  he  may  show  his  splendours 
in  unusual  fulness.  How  was  this  transference  completed  ? 
We  cannot  tell  the  process  in  detail,  but  that  we  are  here  is  the 
supreme  fact  in  our  life.  Why,  then,  send  the  memory  back 
upon  some  critical  but  fruitless  errand,  to  find  fault  with  the 
process,  to  ask  questions  about  the  detail  ?  Better  and  wiser 
to  begin  our  life  from  this  conscious  deliverance,  and  date  every¬ 
thing  from  this  side  the  river.  Thus  the  past  may  chasten  the 
present :  from  the  long-gone  years  there  may  come  some  voice  of 
warning ;  but  all  our  dating  of  experience  and  vowing  and  service 
is  from  this  side  the  river — is  from  the  stones  which  memorialise 
the  deliverance.  This  is  called  the  religious  life  and  the  religious 
construction  of  life ;  and  this  delivers  us  from  memories  which 
become  tumultuous  and  confounding  when  not  barred  back  by 
the  boundary  of  definite  consciousness  of  divine  deliverance. 


Josh.  iv.  15-24.]  COMING  UP  OUT  OF  JORDAN. 


11 9 


Are  there  not  opportunities  for  crossing  all  rivers  ?  And  are 
not  those  opportunities  of  very  brief  duration  ?  It  is  wonderful 
to  mark  how  the  door  of  opportunity  swings  back  in  life  :  it  is 
even  more  wonderful  to  notice  how  it  swings  back  again,  as  if  to 
declare  that  mercy  is  not  to  be  trifled  with,  and  the  hospitality  of 
God  is  not  an  indiscriminate  beneficence  or  munificence.  Have 
not  the  poets  told  us  that  “  there  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men  ”  ? 
Whilst  we  are  reading  words  which  we  declare  to  be  inspired  and 
sacred,  these  very  words  are  confirmed  by  experiences  within  our 
own  knowledge,  and  they  do  but  express  in  sacred  colour  what 
we  ourselves  have  known  to  be  true  in  daily  life.  The  Gospel 
is  itself  a  great  opportunity ;  written  upon  it  are  the  words, 
“Now  is  the  accepted  time;  behold  now  is  the  day  of  salva¬ 
tion.”  Who  can  utter  that  word  “  Now  ”  with  tone  sufficient 
in  expressiveness  and  pathos  ?  When  is  “  now  ”  ?  — always  a 
dying  term,  always  a  new  projection ;  a  time  limited  by  a  moment, 
and  yet  true  of  every  moment  coming.  “  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while 
he  may  be  found,  call  ye  upon  him  while  he  is  near.”  These 
words  define  periods  of  time,  exactness  of  opportunity;  and* 
we  know  them  to  be  true  by  the  broad  facts  and  the  daily- 
experiences  of  life. 

«.  ,  ,  r' 

Reading  of  this  passage  of  the  river  we  find  one  great  omission.. 
The  omission  was  purposed.  There  was  no  way  of  retreat  pro¬ 
vided.  The  river  did  not  stand  back  until  the  Israelites  saw 
what  they  could  do  with  Jericho ;  no  sooner  were  they  over  than 
the  river  came  down  as  before,  and  Israel  was  locked  up  to  his 
work.  Thus  God  brings  us  into  face-to-face  conflicts  ;  thus  divine 
providence  drives  us  into  close  quarters  with  the  enemy.  It 
is  supposable  that  a  host  advancing  to  conquer  a  waited  and 
ancient  city  might  have  had  to  bear  the  pressure  of  some  sudden 
terror  and  might  have  desired  to  retire ;  but  the  river  was  rolling 
on  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and  there  was  no  promise  made  that  it 
should  be  cut  in  two  again  for  the  accommodation  of  timid  or 
cowardly  men.  Some  of  us  must  be  forced  up  to  our  work. 
We  do  not  know  what  is  in  us  or  what  we  can  do  until  there  is 
no  escape — battle,  or  death  ;  battle,  or  victory.  Let  us  bless  God, 

I  would  again  say,  that  we  are  sometimes  scourged  up  to  our 
work.  To  retreat  is  to  be  drovvned  :  to  advance  is  to  achieve 


120 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  iv.  15-24. 


at  least  possible  victory.  There  must  be  no  going  back  again. 
We  are  bound  to  this  holy  work — taking  the  devil’s  citadel. 
There  can  be  no  reconstruction  as  to  the  terms  of  service  and 
loyalty.  We  are  committed  to  the  overthrow  of  this  city  or 
kingdom,  this  evil  or  corruption,  as  the  case  may  be.  If  we  do 
not  advance  we  shall  be  slain ;  if  we  try  to  run  away  we  shall  be 
drowned.  “  Quit  you  like  men.”  Better  fight  and  die  honour¬ 
ably  than  run  away  and  be  as  drowned  dogs  in  the  sullen  stream. 
We  are  men  who  are  committed,  and  cannot  go  back. 

“And  the  people  came  up  out  of  Jordan  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  first 
month,  and  encamped  in  Gilgal,  in  the  east  border  of  Jericho”  (v.  19). 

What  is  that  to  us  ?  These  are  forgotten  dates  ?  No,  there 
is  nothing  forgotten.  Great  things  took  place  upon  this  date 
long  ago,  and  it  ought  to  be  familiar  to  us.  In  Exodus  xii.  5, 
the  people  had  been  commanded  to  take  them  a  lamb  for  an 
house  that  they  might  eat  the  Passover.  When  was  that  ? 
4t  On  the  tenth  day  of  the  first  month."  That  was  exactly  to  a 
moment  forty  years  before.  Coincidences  of  time  are  full  of 
suggestion.  History  repeats  itself  in  many  ways  in  very  subtle 
colourings  and  suggestions.  So  we  seem  to  have  been  here 
before,  and  to  have  read  this  discourse,  or  to  have  heard  this 
speech  somewhere,  long  ago.  Did  we  dream  this  scene  ?  Who 
told  us  of  it  ?  There  is  a  strange  and  even  weird  familiarity 
about  the  place,  the  man,  the  whole  vision — what  is  it?  It 
is  but  the  revival  of  a  date ;  it  is  but  time  set  in  a  new 
relation,  the  old  and  the  new  strangely  mingled ;  for  God  has 
always  worked  upon  the  plan  of  continuity,  the  continuity 
sometimes  apparently  lost,  but  suddenly  reappearing  and  pro¬ 
jecting  itself  through  the  ages.  “  Hear,  O  Israel:  The  Lord  our 
God  is  one  Lord “I  am  the  Lord,  I  change  not.”  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  same  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  for  ever.  To-morrow 
will  bring  up  the  memory  of  to-day.  The  world  has  lived  long 
enough  now  to  allow  its  days  to  double  back  upon  one  another, 
and  to  take  from  the  impression  some  of  the  ink  with  which 
ancient  history  was  written.  The  days  are  repetitions.  Time 
is  full  of  history.  Forty  years  taken  in  the  passage  of  the 
distance  between  the  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea  and  entering  into 
Canaan  r  Yes  !  Make  of  it  what  we  may,  here  is  the  fact  of 


Josh.  iv.  15-24.]  COMING  UP  OUT  OF  JORDAN. 


121 


the  present  time,  that  men  are  hindered  by  their  wickedness. 
The  Israelites  might  have  been  sooner  in  Canaan  but  for  their 
rebellion.  We,  ourselves,  know  that  our  sins  have  kept  good 
things  from  us.  Sin  keeps  back  the  millennium.  Evil-doing 
keeps  us  digging  in  the  earth  when  we  might  have  been  serving 
in  heaven.  There  are  men  who  are  to-day  suffering  from 
what  they  did  forty  years  ago.  Things  do  not  die.  “  Ever¬ 
lasting  punishment”  is  written  upon  the  whole  scroll  of  life. 
Punishment  has  no  end,  except  it  be  ended  by  some  mysterious 
but  loving  action  on  the  part  of  God.  A  man  sentenced  to 
prison  for  one  day  for  an  evil  deed  is  in  prison  the  remainder 
of  his  life ;  when  he  has  left  the  jail  he  has  not  left  the  prison. 
Long  ago  we  got  wrong  somehow,  and  we  cannot  get  back 
into  the  right  line.  It  was  a  mistake,  or  a  misadventure,  or 
an  evil  purpose,  or  a  settled  treason  ;  it  was  a  piece  of  selfish¬ 
ness,  or  miscalculation,  or  wrong-doing ;  we  said  the  wrong 
word,  we  were  too  late  by  one  day,  we  mistook  the  right  hand 
for  the  left — something  it  was ;  and  the  consequence  is  that 
we  have  been  forty  years  in  doing  what  might  have  been  ac¬ 
complished  in  one.  See  if  this  be  not  so  by  examining  life 
carefully.  It  seems  impossible  to  disentangle  the  knot ;  it  is 
weary  work  at  the  best.  We  know  we  might  have  been  so 
much  further  on,  and  yet  to-day  we  are  baffled  and  hindered 
and  mocked  by  some  spirit  of  the  air  which  is  without  shape 
or  name.  The  interference  with  the  river  is  nothing  compared 
with  the  subtle  spiritual  interferences  which  are  always 
changing  the  route  of  life.  We  have  set  out  upon  a  certain 
course,  and  said  in  specific  terms, — this  shall  be  our  route 
towards  the  goal.  Without  any  action  upon  our  part  which 
we  can  recall,  and  without  any  conscious  relation  to  the  action, 
the  route  has  been  changed,  the  course  has  been  turned  to 
the  right  hand  or  to  the  left.  These  interferences  with  life- 
routes  are  taking  place  every  day.  The  young  soul  has  its 
plan,  and  having  mapped  out  the  future  with  a  hand  that 
knew  no  trembling,  and  with  a  pencil  incapable  of  feeling, 
the  boy  joyfully  says  :  “  I  will  go ;  and  thus  I  will  travel ; 
here  halt,  and  there  remain  a  year,  and  buy  and  sell  and  get 
gain,  and  then  proceed  according  to  the  record.  ”  This  is  the 
boast  of  folly.  This  is  the  utterance  of  men  who  have  not 


122 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh,  iv.  15-24. 


the  key  of  to-morrow.  The  Lord  suddenly  changes  the  course, 
and  they  who  thought  they  were  going  westwards  at  a  rapid 
pace  are  awakened  to  the  consciousness  that  they  have  been 
hastening  eastwards,  and  knew  it  not.  Why  will  not  men 
consider  these  things  and  put  facts  together,  so  patiently  and 
inductively  as  to  find  a  law  at  the  end  of  them  ?  the  law 
being  that  it  is  not  in  man  that  liveth  to  direct  his  way,  and 
that  it  is  the  Lord  who  presides  over  the  battle  and  directs 
the  pace  of  the  going  of  the  world,  and  that  there  is  but  one 
God,  reigning  over  all  things  and  for  ever  blessed. 

Israel  might  have  penetrated  into  the  Land  of  Promise  when 
they  were  on  the  frontier  at  Kadesh-Barnea  in  the  second  year 
of  the  exodus.  Think  of  it !  they  might  have  been  in  Canaan  long 
ago — a  generation  since !  What  happened  to  prevent  this 
penetration  into  the  Land  of  Promise  ?  Sin  happened.  Let  us 
call  it  commonplace  if  we  are  prepared  to  lose  the  richest  cream 
of  historical  instruction  ;  but  there  is  the  fact :  it  was  sin  that 
hindered  the  early  penetration  into  the  Land  of  Promise.  Say 
Edom  was  obstinate,  and  the  king  thereof  said  :  “  No,  you  shall 
not  go  through  this  land  ;  you  must  find  some  other  way ;  ”  the 
king  of  Edom  did  not  speak  words  of  his  own,  the  descendant  of 
Esau  had  a  mission  from  God.  Men  do  not  always  know  whose 
ministers  they  are.  We  speak  words  that  have  upon  them  and 
around  them  the  texture  of  eternit}’’,  and  we  say  we  knew  not 
why  we  spoke  them,  but  we  could  not  resist  the  speech  :  the 
words  flew  to  our  lips  and  burned  upon  our  tongue,  and  we  must 
needs  utter  them.  We  cannot  allow  Israel  to  assume  the 
character  of  an  ill-used  traveller,  who,  having  suddenly  come 
upon  inhospitable  provinces,  was  put  to  very  serious  inconveni¬ 
ence.  Israel  was  not  a  white-robed  saint  in  the  wilderness — the 
pure,  the  patient,  holy  traveller ;  Israel  had  defied  God,  and 
murmured  against  his  captain,  and  resisted  the  law ;  and  rebellion 
must  always  be  punished.  It  is  not  always  punished  in  the 
same  way,  but  punished  it  always  is.  Men  think  they  have 
secured  their  purpose ;  they  say  that  this  time  at  all  events  they 
have  been  victorious;  and  now  they  will  handle  life  just  as  they 
please — and  behold,  their  very  victory  is  the  cruellest  defeat ! 
They  may  have  had  their  desire  granted,  but  leanness  has  been 


Josh.  iv.  15-24.]  COMING  UP  0U2'  OF  JORDAN. 


123 


sent  into  their  souls.  There  is  only  one  way  of  living  rightly, 
and  that  is  living  in  the  sanctuary  of  God, — that  is,  in  obedience 
to  the  eternal  law  which  facts,  as  well  as  revelation,  have 
established.  If  you  are  unwilling  to  believe  that  the  eternal  law 
has  been  revealed,  and  has  been  written  down  with  pen  and  ink, 
and  is  to  be  referred  to  as  an  ancient  document,  then  take  some 
other  course.  Let  this  be  your  course :  call  for  quietness  in  the 
mind  ;  silence  all  tumult  of  thought ;  read  history — centuries  of 
it  at  a  time  ;  take  in  breadth  and  scope  enough  or  you  will  be  the 
victims  of  details ;  seize  as  with  the  mental  vision  great  periods 
of  time ;  and  this  you  will  find  to  be  the  law  of  fact,  as  well  as 
the  law  of  revelation,  that  only  he  who  falls  into  the  rhythm  of 
the  universe,  who  is  part  of  the  great  whole,  who  is  so  individual 
as  not  to  lose  his  sense  of  responsibility,  and  yet  so  social  as  to 
know  that  he  is  one  of  a  great  host — only  they  who  have  moved 
rhythmically  to  the  beat  of  righteousness  and  the  throb  of  justice 
have  come  into  ultimate  rest,  and  peace,  and  dignity.  Revelation 
looks  to  facts  for  its  commentary.  It  is  willing  to  rest  until 
history  has  had  its  say ;  and  revelation  and  history  are  to  be  one 
in  their  final  testimony.  Observe  what  has  been  required  in  this 
contention  :  that  sufficient  time  should  be  taken  within  the 
purview.  These  arbitraments  are  not  to  be  settled  by  what 
occurred  this  day,  or  within  the  limits  of  that  one  hour.  We 
must  take  in  field  enough  if  we  could  realise  all  the  teaching  of 
historical  perspective  and  colour.  So  judged,  the  Bible  has 
nothing  to  fear ;  it  is  a  prophecy  of  facts,  the  forecasting  of  what 
we  know  ourselves  has  occurred  and  is  evermore  transpiring. 

What,  then,  was  the  purpose  of  this  memorialising  of  the 
crossing  of  Jordan?  Why  these  stones?  Why  this  religious 
consideration  ?  The  answer  is  given  in  the  twenty-fourth 
verse : — 

u  That  all  the  people  of  the  earth  might  know  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  that  it 
is  mighty  :  that  ye  might  fear  the  Lord  your  God  for  ever.” 

All  providences  are  to  have  a  religious  effect  upon  others,  even 
upon  nations  far  away.  We  cannot  put  an  end  to  this  species 
of  judgment.  Observers  look  upon  us  and  say  :  He  lives  well ; 
there  must  be  a  force  in  that  character  we  have  underestimated  ; 
he  prays  even  now,  notwithstanding  the  storm  which  has  fallen 


124 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE .  [Josh.  iv.  15-24 


upon  him,  the  tempest  which  has  desolated  his  fields,  the 
scepticism  which  has  assailed  his  faith ;  he  has  dug  a  dozen 
graves,  yet  he  has  made  of  them  a  dozen  altars — how  is  this  ? 
Surely  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  is  with  him,  and  the  Spirit  of 
the  Eternal  is  within  his  soul.  It  is  the  same  also  in  nations. 
Mark  how  they  stand  in  the  world’s  esteem.  One  nation  makes 
a  proposition,  and  the  proposal  is  hailed  with  universal  derision, 
because  the  nation  has  lived  itself  into  the  infamy  of  a  known 
liar.  Another  nation  makes  a  proposal,  and  all  the  other  nations 
of  the  world  hasten  to  accept  the  terms.  Why  ?  The  nation 
has  acquired  fame  for  honesty,  uprightness,  integrity  ;  for  being 
right  in  its  supreme  purpose,  often  making  mistakes,  often 
returning  to  correct  its  own  miscalculations — yet,  the  soul  of  it 
is  healthy ;  its  word  is  its  bond ;  it  is  a  nation  honourably 
known.  So  what  we  do  as  individuals  and  as  nations  has  an 
effect  upon  observers  near  and  far  away.  It  is  possible  for  us  to 
live  so  that  the  atheist  will  be  obliged  to  say  :  After  all,  there  is 
a  mystery  about  this  I  cannot  make  out.  It  is  possible  so  to  live 
that  the  mocker  shall  let  the  gibe  die  on  his  reluctant  lips,  say¬ 
ing  even  in  his  bad  heart :  It  is  a  cruel  thing  to  mock  consistency 
so  noble  and  beneficence  so  generous.  It  is  possible  for  any 
nation  under  the  influence  of  Christ  so  to  live  that  other  nations, 
whilst  disputing  Christian  doctrine  and  contending  against 
Christian  metaphysics,  shall  say :  The  soul  of  that  nation  is 
honest,  righteous,  just ;  and  what  if  in  this  concession  there 
should  be  hidden  an  unexpressed  avowal  that  the  Lord  is  God, 
and  Christ,  his  Son,  come  whence  he  may,  mysteriously  makes 
man  better,  sounder,  grander  ?  The  critics  who  would  be  glad 
to  discrown  the  Messiah  may  stop  and  wonder  and  think  when 
they  note  the  quality  of  character  which  his  grace  creates  and 
sustains. 


PRAYER. 


Oh  that  we  knew  where  we  might  find  him  !  We  would  come  even  unto 
his  seat  and  plead  with  him  mightily  and  long.  We  bless  thee  that  we 
need  not  repeat  the  words  of  thy  servant  of  old,  for  we  know  where  thou 
art :  thou  art  not  a  God  afar  off  but  nigh  at  hand.  Thou  hast,  in  Christ 
Jesus  thy  Son,  reconciled  the  world  unto  thyself.  We  meet  thee  at 
Bethlehem.  We  hear  thee  speaking  to  us  in  the  wind.  We  watch  thee  in 
all  thy  daily  course  of  humiliation  and  pain  and  redeeming  love.  We  see 
thee  in  the  Cross  of  Jesus  Christ ;  we  recognise  in  that  Cross  the  highest 
revelation  of  thy  righteousness  and  love.  God  forbid  that  we  should 
glory  save  in  the  Cross !  It  touches  our  life  when  no  other  power  can 
come  near  it ;  it  charms  our  solitude  without  intrusion ;  it  speaks  to  us 
when  we  could  hear  no  other  voice.  It  is  the  hope  of  the  world  ;  it  is  the 
way  to  pardon ;  it  is  the  gate  of  heaven.  Blessed  Cross ;  infinite  Cross ; 
tender  Cross!  May  we  ourselves  be  daily  crucified  upon  it,  that,  dying 
daily,  we  may  know  daily  the  power  of  Christ’s  resurrection,  and  become  so 
accustomed  to  death  that  when  the  death  of  the  flesh  comes  we  shall  not 
know  it.  We  thank  thee  for  all  Christian  hope  and  confidence,  for  all 
spiritual  consolation,  for  all  voices  which  address  us  from  the  skies;  we 
need  these  in  dark  times,  on  cloudy  days,  when  the  sun  is  quite  shut  out ; 
then  do  we  know  how  great  is  thy  love,  how  tender  thy  pity,  how  precious 
the  dew  of  thy  tears.  Thou  hast  made  our  life  so  that  no  voice  can  truly 
speak  to  it  but  thine  own.  Other  voices  address  us  in  parts,  and  upon 
given  days,  and  under  special  circumstances;  but  thy  voice  is  the  same  by 
night  and  by  day,  in  winter  and  in  summer ;  thou  comest  near  us,  and  our 
weakness  thou  dost  lift  up  by  thine  own  almightiness ;  there  is  no  touch  like 
thine.  Other  hands  hurt  us  even  in  their  endeavours  to  help,  but  thy 
hands,  omnipotent  One,  are  full  of  mercy ;  they  express  thine  heart.  We 
thank  thee  for  all  love  which  makes  life’s  burdens  sit  less  heavily  upon  us ; 
we  thank  thee  for  all  home  delights  which  make  the  world  more  bearable, 
we  thank  thee  for  all  spiritual  comfort  which  enables  us  to  overcome  material 
distresses;  these  are  the  gifts  of  God,  these  are  messages  from  the  eternal 
spheres,  these  are  voices  which  the  soul  knows  and  which  the  heart 
lovingly  answers.  We  cannot  understand  this  religious  nature  with  which 
thou  hast  endowed  us ;  it  is  a  great  pain  oftentimes, — eager  to  look  into 
things  which  are  at  present  sealed,  and  impetuous  in  inquiry  rather  than 
patient,  troubling  God  with  violent  addresses  rather  than  waiting  patiently 
for  his  coming.  Yet  it  is  our  life’s  highest  life ;  it  enables  us  to  touch 
heaven,  eternity,  things  infinite ;  by  it  we  realise  thy  purpose  in  making 
all  things  that  are  round  about  us,  so  stupendous,  so  minute, — the  great 


126 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  v.  i. 


heavens,  the  dying  flowers.  Thou  hast  made  all  these  things,  and  filled  them 
with  meaning;  if  we  were  wise  we  could  read  that  meaning  easily  and 
lovingly,  and  be  comforted  by  the  tender  solaces  of  unspoken  gospels. 
Anoint  our  eyes  that  we  may  see  !  Circumcise  our  ears  that  we  may  hear. 
Give  us  the  understanding  heart;  and  every  place  shall  be  the  house  of 
God,  and  every  delight  shall  be  as  a  gate  of  heaven.  We  bless  thee  for  a 
sense  of  thy  nearness  :  we  can  whisper  to  thee ;  we  can  call  upon  thee 
instantaneously,  and  thy  reply  can  come  before  our  friend  can  see  we  have 
prayed  or  have  received  answers  from  God.  Direct  us  in  all  our  way :  it  is 
sometimes  so  difficult :  we  shrink  from  it :  we  cannot  bear  the  deep  places 
and  the  rough;  we  do  not  know  what  may  befall  us  along  the  perilous  line  : 
some  ravenous  beast  may  bestroy  us,  some  hidden  pit  may  engulf  us,  some 
sudden  wind  may  be  charged  with  death.  But  this  is  our  ignorance  :  thou 
wilt  pity  it  and  forgive  it.  We  would  rather  say,  in  our  Christian  faith — 
Father,  let  our  hand  be  in  thine,  then  nothing  can  come  but  peace  and  light 
and  heaven.  We  mourn  our  sin  :  it  is  bitterer  to  thee  than  it  can  be  to  us ; 
because  thou  art  all  holy;  but  thou  hast  grappled  with  this  difficulty;  thou 
didst  meet  sin  before  sin  arose :  the  Cross  is  older  than  the  crime,  the  grace 
more  venerable  than  the  sin.  We  trust  in  the  living  God  ;  we  cast  our¬ 
selves  upon  Jesus  Christ  thy  Son  ;  we  will  not  reason  or  understand  in 
words  this  mystery  of  love,  for  who  can  grasp  in  his  little  palm  all  that 
is  above  him  ?  Now  we  fall  into  thy  hands,  and  evermore  abide  there, 
growing  in  wisdom,  in  confidence,  in  charity,  in  holiness,  knowing  Christ 
more  thoroughly,  comprehending  him  by  our  sympathy  where  we  cannot 
follow  him  by  our  reason  ;  and  do  thou  enable  us  to  die  with  him  that  with 
him  we  may  rise  again.  Amen. 


Joshua  v. 


MEMORABLE  EVENTS. 


HIS  chapter  is  remarkable  for  two  or  three  points  which 


happily  combine  the  miraculous  and  the  experimental. 
Here  and  there  we  cannot  touch  the  genius  of  the  chapter  at  all, 
and  then  suddenly  it  descends  upon  familiar  lines,  so  that  we 
can  interrogate  it,  and  in  a  measure  understand  it,  because  it 
confirms  our  own  personal  experience.  The  foot  of  this  ladder 
is  upon  the  earth  :  the  head  <?f  it  is  in  the  sky. 

Take  the  first  verse  : — 

“  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  all  the  kings  of  the  Amorites,  which  were 
on  the  side  of  Jordan  westward,  and  all  the  kings  of  the  Canaanites,  which 
were  by  the  sea,  heard  that  the  Lord  had  dried  up  the  waters  of  Jordan  from 
before  the  children  of  Israel,  until  we  were  passed  over,  that  their  heart 
melted,  neither  was  there  spirit  in  them  any  more,  because  of  the  children 
of  Israel.” 


Josh.  v.  i.] 


MEMORABLE  EVENTS. 


12  7 


The  heathen  kings  did  not  disbelieve  in  miracles.  It  seems 
as  if  we  had  lost  a  good  deal  by  our  civilisation.  We  have  come 
into  a  very  complicated  state  of  existence,  and  are  so  fretted  by 
questions  and  scepticisms  as  to  be  almost  divested  at  once  of 
our  dignity  and  our  peace.  It  must  have  been  wonderful  living 
in  the  days  when  miracles  seemed  to  be  quite  credible,  quite 
near  at  hand,  topics  of  common  converse,  instances  which  men 
had  seen  with  their  own  eyes.  We  have  lost  something  by  this 
cessation  of  the  outward  miracle.  What  we  have  lost  is  faith — 
faith  in  human  history,  faith  in  the  processes  of  human  evolution 
and  education  :  we  have  lived  ourselves  into  the  commonplace 
pointless.  Lord  Lytton  says  :  u  The  man  who  has  no  faith 
in  religion  is  often  the  man  who  has  faith  in  a  nightmare. 
Julius  Caesar  publicly  denounced  a  belief  in  hereafter,  and 
rejected  the  idea  of  a  soul  and  a  deity,  yet  muttered  a  charm 
when  he  entered  a  chariot,  and  did  not  cross  the  Rubicon  until 
he  had  consulted  the  omens.  Lord  Herbert,  of  Cherbourg,  writes 
a  book  against  revelation,  and  asks  a  sign  from  heaven  to  tell 
him  if  his  book  is  approved  by  his  Maker.  The  man  who 
cannot  believe  in  the  miracles  performed  by  the  Saviour,  gravely 
tells  us  of  a  miracle  vouchsafed  to  himself.”  Thus  we  measure 
everything  by  our  own  experience  and  consciousness.  We  have 
lost  the  power  of  projecting  ourselves  into  the  universal  con¬ 
sciousness  of  ancient  and  contemporary  spiritual  history.  The 
heathen  kings  drew  inferences  from  what  had  occurred  around 
them.  They  said — If  the  river  has  been  crossed,  the  city  is 
gone.  They  were  not  unreasoning  or  infantile  minds.  They  saw 
somewhat  of  the  logical  issue  of  things.  The  power  of  following 
the  seed  to  its  fructification  is  what  we  have  lost.  Otherwise, 
we  should  all  be  prophets :  we  should  know  that  as  certainly 
as  a  man  has  told  a  lie  he  has  dug  a  hell.  We  think  the  law 
will  be  modified,  or  turned  aside,  and  that  the  thunderbolt  of 
judgment  will  somehow  be  averted.  We  are  not  morally 
logical.  We  peddle  about  verbal  sequences  and  account  it 
cleverness  to  trace  literary  consequences,  but  what  about 
moral  concatenation  and  issue  ?  Were  we  as  bold  in  the  matter 
of  inference  as  were  the  heathen  kings,  we  should  know  that 
the  moment  a  man  has  given  up  self-control  he  is  damned. 
It  seems  to  be  a  great  leap  from  the  first  step  to  the  last,  but 


128 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  v.  i. 


that  is  moral  logic,  that  is  spiritual  sequence ;  as  a  question 
of  logic  there  is  no  way  of  getting  out  of  it.  What  then  can 
be  done  ?  All  men  have  surely  been  false,  and  all  men  have 
surely  done  that  which  is  wrong.  There  comes  the  sublimity 
of  divine  revelation.  God  takes  up  the  case  :  the  great  miracle 
is  performed  from  above.  There  is  no  halting  between  falsehood 
and  perdition ;  so  far  as  the  man  is  concerned,  his  first  lie 
killed  him.  The  first  act  of  disobedience  “  brought  death  into 
our  world  and  all  our  woe.”  Death  is  not  the  result  of  a 
series  of  actions ,  it  is  the  result  of  a  thought,  a  purpose,  a 
deed.  Whilst  thus  we  contemplate  with  a  kind  of  inexcusable 
dignity  the  kings  and  mighty  men  who  lived  long  ages  ago, 
and  even  begin  to  question  whether  they  lived  at  all  or  not, 
they  seized  the  great  idea  of  process,  development,  and  culmin¬ 
ation  :  they  knew  that  one  miracle  meant  all  miracles.  They 
did  not  ask  for  another  sign  from  heaven  as  the  unbelieving 
Jews  were  always  asking.  Therein  was  the  sophistry  of  the 
Jewish  reasoning  and  the  folly  of  the  Jewish  relation  to  the 
great  Man  of  their  day  :  they  did  not  know  that  one  miracle 
meant  all  miracles,  one  lie  meant  all  the  fire  of  eternity  burning 
the  liar.  We,  too,  seem  to  suppose  that  only  at  the  end  of 
a  series  of  offences  can  certain  penal  consequences  arise.  That 
may  be  well  for  mere  social  convenience,  that  may  be  a  proper 
limit  for  human  magistracy  and  imperfect  power ;  but  looking 
at  things  in  the  light  of  heaven  and  the  light  of  eternity,  to  tell 
one  lie  is  to  go  into  everlasting  punishment.  Who,  then,  can 
be  saved  ?  None  by  himself.  No  man  has  the  power  to  rub 
out  a  lie.  You  cannot  expunge  a  falsehood  ;  once  done,  it  is 
done  for  ever,  so  far  as  the  doer  is  concerned.  If  there  be  any 
balm  in  Gilead,  if  there  be  any  physician  there,  if  there  be  any 
undreamed  of  love  and  power  in  heaven,  if  it  lie  within  the 
circuit  of  Almighty  power  and  infinite  wisdom  to  meet  the  case, 
so  be  it ;  but  within  the .  limits  of  the  man’s  own  life  and 
responsibility  and  power,  the  he  means  hell  Blessed  be  God, 
there  is  a  gospel  in  relation  to  this — a  Cross,  a  Saviour,  a  way 
out  of  it  all, — not  to  be  understood  or  reduced  to  words  which 
always  exactly  fit  the  occasion,  but  to  be  seized  by  faith  and 
appropriated  by  the  hunger  of  the  helpless  heart.  Heathen 
kings  lost  spiritual  conviction,  and  therefore  their  arms  fell 


Josh.  v.  6.] 


MEMORABLE  EVENTS. 


129 


right  down  by  their  sides.  It  is  when  the  heart  “  melts  ”  that 
the  arm  gives  in.  Men  fight  with  the  heart ;  men  live  with 
the  heart;  men  return  to  the  battle  because  of  the  inspiration 
of  the  heart.  What  wonder,  then,  if  the  Christian  teacher 
should  come  forward  and  say,  u  With  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness  ”  ?  Man  does  not  lay  a  withered  hand  upon 
heaven’s  pillars  and  draw  himself  up  by  that  palsied  grasp. 
It  is  with  the  heart  we  live  and  suffer  and  return  to  the  battle ; 
it  is  the  heart  which  says — To-morrow  shall  see  victory ; 
to-morrow  we  bury  the  enemy  in  the  grave.  The  walls  of 
Jericho  were  still  standing;  all  the  kings  of  the  Amorites  and 
all  the  kings  of  the  Canaanites  had  their  armies  intact  and  all 
their  resources  at  hand,  but  li  their  heart  melted,  neither  was 
there  spirit  in  them  any  more.”  And  what  is  a  man  without 
heart,  without  spirit,  without  moral  confidence  ?  To  know 
that  righteousness  is  not  with  us  is  to  have  all  the  pith  taken 
out  of  our  muscles  ;  to  know  that  we  are  going  into  the  garden 
to  kiss  an  innocent  Christ  and  thus  betray  him  is,  when  we  see 
him,  to  fall  right  back,  blanched  and  dead.  Be  right  in  spiritual 
conviction.  Know  that  the  thing  proposed  to  be  done  is  right, 
wise,  good  ;  and  then  the  rest  will  be  peace,  victory, — enduring, 
untainted  honour. 

Another  interesting  point  occurs  in  the  sixth  verse  : — 

“  For  the  children  of  Israel  walked  for'y  years  in  the  wilderness,  till  alb 
the  people  that  were  men  of  war,  which  came  out  of  Egypt,  were  consumed, 
because  they  obeyed  not  the  voice  of  the  Lord  :  unto  whom  the  Lord  sware 
that  he  would  not  shew  them  the  land,  which  the  Lord  sware  unto  their 
fathers  that  he  would  give  us,  a  land  that  floweth  with  milk  and  honey.” 

Here  we  find  what  we  are  constantly  seeing:  a  new  generation 
but  a  permanent  humanity.  According  to  this  statement  all  the 
people  that  were  men  of  war  which  came  out  of  Egypt  were 
consumed.  The  Israel  that  entered  Canaan  was  not  the  Israel 
that  left  Egypt,-  so  far  as  detail  was  concerned.  This  is  the 
mystery  of  human  development  or  human  progress.  Men  die 
— man  lives.  The  generation  passes  away — humanity  abides. 
God  thus  raises  up  a  Church  to  himself.  Much  is  apparently 
lost  by  the  way :  the  leaves  of  a  thousand  years  ago  are  all  dead 
and  buried,  or  have  entered  into  chemic  relations  with  the 
universe  which  we  cannot  follow,  but  the  tree  on  which  they  grew 

9 


VOL.  V. 


i3° 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  v.  6. 


# 


still  stands,  lifting  itself  up  to  the  blue  heavens,  and  waiting  next 
year’s  inspiration  and  fruitfulness.  Here  lies  a  truth  which 
many  men  dare  not  really  put  into  words,  which  cannot  be  so 
put  into  words  as  to  explain  itself  to  everybody.  We  must 
grow  up  into  some  mysteries,  pass  into  them  subtly  and  come  to 
their  realisation  suddenly ;  they  are  not  to  be  explained  or  made 
matters  of  controversy;  they  are  to  be  seized  by  the  expand¬ 
ing  and  strengthening  mind  ;  they  are  to  be  appropriated  by  the 
refined  and  sanctified  consciousness.  The  mocker  might  step  in 
here  and  say,  Where  are  they  who  left  Egypt  to  come  to  a  land 
of  promise  ?  They  are  dead  ;  their  carcases  are  in  the  wilderness. 
That  is  historically,  and  as  a  matter  of  detail,  true  ;  but  humanity 
is  in  man.  The  great  human  quantity  is  within  the  individual 
detail.  The  Church  is  within  the  sinner.  Here  are  men  who,  like 
ourselves,  were  born  in  the  wilderness  but  destined  for  Canaan. 
That  is  human  life  in  a  sentence.  All  these  people  were  children 
of  the  wilderness,  yet  they  were  not  meant  for  the  wilderness 
as  a  final  settlement ;  they  knew  it  :  the  spirit  of  marching  was 
in  them  ;  the  angel  of  battle  moved  them  to  arms.  Is  it  not  so  in 
our  own  consciousness  ?  We  were  born  in  poverty,  but  never 
meant  to  remain  there  ;  we  were  born  under  great  disadvantages, 
but  had  a  soul  given  to  us  which  said — We  will  beat  them  all 
down,  stand  upon  them,  and  make  use  of  them  to  heighten  the 
very  honour  and  dignity  the  Lord  has  enabled  us  to  win.  We 
.  are  all  wilderness-born :  we  have  no  right  to  remain  in  the 
wilderness  or  to  die  in  it.  The  men  died  in  the  wilderness, 
“  because  they  obeyed  not  the  voice  of  the  Lord” — and 
there  cannot  be  two  Lords,  two  Masters,  two  Sovereigns,  two 
thrones.  “  Hear,  O  Israel,” — O  humanity, — “the  Lord  our  God 
is  one  Lord.”  Do  not  let  us  set  up  our  little  will  and  whim  and 
iidea  as  against  the  eternal  purpose,  but  fall  down  and  resolutely 
.and  tenderly  pray  that  we  may  know  God’s  will  and  do  it  every 
•syllable.  That  is  “the  whole  duty  of  man.”  God  is  disappointed 
■with  the  individuals,  but  he  will  be  pleased  with  the  race.  When 
'God  made  Adam  he  did  not  make  an  Adam;  he  made  what 
“Adam”  signifies — man.  The  judgment  of  God  does  not  lie  as 
between  himself  and  the  one  little  creature  we  call  a  man.  God 
is  not  set  up  as  the  centre  of  innumerable  details  any  one  of 
which  may  crush  his  purpose  and  render  his  decree  a  nullity. 


Josh. v. II,  12.]  MEMORABLE  EVENTS. 


God  takes  another  view  of  man  : — As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  the 
whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with  my  glory.  What  part  or  lot  are 
we  about  to  play  in  this  matter  ?  Fool  is  he  who  thinks  he  can 
rule  back  the  purpose  of  God  or  tear  in  twain  the  covenant  of 
Heaven.  It  is  one  of  two  things  :  we  fall  upon  the  stone  and  are 
broken,  or  the  stone  falls  upon  us  and  we  are  ground  to  powder. 
Do  not  let  us  contend  about  terms  or  technicalities,  or  avail  our¬ 
selves  of  all  the  suggestions  offered  by  a  crudely-formed  and 
crudely-expressed  theology.  Here  lies  the  infinite  truth,  con¬ 
firmed  by  all  life,  that  there  can  be  but  one  will  that  is  right,  one 
God  blessed  for  evermore.  He  will  carry  out  his  purpose.  He 
has  vowed  as  it  were  by  his  life,  his  eternity,  that  his  word  shall 
not  return  unto  him  void.  He  may  be  cast  out,  reviled,  killed ; 
but  he  will  still  have  the  whole  earth  for  his  inheritance  and 
humanity  for  a  gem  in  his  crown.  “  It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick 
against  the  pricks."  Every  man  has  within  himself  the  power — 
not  the  right — of  self-damnation;  but  God’s  word  shall  be  ful¬ 
filled,  though  it  take  innumerable  ages  to  accomplish  it,  that  man 
shall  stand  in  his  image  and  likeness.  He  will  never  cease  to 
work  until  the  image  is  perfected.  Whoever  comes,  whoever 
goes,  though  the  wilderness  be  one  infinite  cemetery,  God  shall 
have  a  seed  to  serve  him  and  to  call  Jesus  blessed.  We  can 
fight,  we  . can  disobey,  we  can  have  our  own  poor  way, — all  that 
lies  within  the  possibility  of  sin  ;  but  it  comes  to  nothing,  except 
dishonour  and  ruin  and  death. 

The  most  interesting  point  of  all  is  found  in  verses  n,  12  : — 

“  And  they  did  eat  of  the  old  corn  of  the  land  on  the  morrow  after  the 
passover,  unleavened  cakes,  and  parched  corn  in  the  selfsame  day.  And  the 
manna  ceased  on  the  morrow  after  they  had  eaten  of  the  old  corn  of  the 
land  ;  neither  had  the  children  of  Israel  manna  any  more ;  but  they  did  eat 
of  the  fruit  of  the  land  of  Canaan  that  year.” 

The  manna  had  fallen  in  the  wilderness  thirty-nine  years  and 
eleven  months,  excepting  on  the  Sabbath-day.  A  modern  com¬ 
mentator  says  : — “  The  manna  finally  ceased  or  kept  Sabbath  on 
the  very  day  afterwards  marked  by  our  Lord’s  resurrection,  which 
became  the  Lord’s  day.’’  Now  this  is  matter  of  simple  arithme¬ 
tical  calculation.  There  is  no  possibility  of  so  using  figures  and 
dates  as  to  mislead  the  mind  upon  this  particular ;  and  here,  by  a 
process  of  rigid  arithmetical  demonstration,  it  is  made  clear  that 


1 32 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  Josh.  v.  n,  12. 


the  manna  finally  kept  Sabbath  on  the  very  day  afterwards 
marked  by  our  Lord’s  resurrection  ;  and  our  Lord  replaced  the 
manna  of  ancient  teachers  by  himself  saying  : — I  am  the  true 
Bread  sent  down  from  heaven  :  eat  of  me — eat  of  this  old  corn  ; 
other  means  of  sustenance  are  done  away,  and  I  am  the  Bread 
sent  down  from  heaven.  Some  very  striking  inferences  im¬ 
mediately  follow  the  perusal  of  this  state  of  things.  For  example, 
here  we  have  the  reason  for  the  cessation  of  miracles.  When  did 
the  manna  cease  to  fall  ? — Immediately  that  there  was  corn  to 
be  eaten.  No  sooner  was  it  possible  to  live,  as  we  should  say 
naturally,  than  the  supernatural  method  of  existence  was  ended. 
This  is  God’s  method  all  through.  There  is  no  further  need 
for  manna,  the  manna  will  cease  to  be  rained  upon  the  wilder¬ 
ness.  When  we  can  find  food  for  ourselves  God  will  not  find  it 
for  us  otherwise  than  primarily,  otherwise  than  by  showing  us 
how  to  discover  and  appropriate  it.  This  is  the  beauty  of  righte¬ 
ousness  :  this  is  the  very  centre  and  soul  of  the  divine  discipline 
of  mankind.  When  we  are  in  the  wilderness  and  cannot  grow 
corn,  we  shall  not  die  of  hunger,  for  God  will  intervene  and 
sustain  the  life  of  his  servants.  Have  no  fear;  let  your  courage 
abide  in  God.  When  the  times  are  so  hard  and  cruel  and 
difficult  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  honest  man  to  live  by  natural 
methods  and  ordinary  customs,  God  will  not  see  him  lost  for 
want  of  sustenance.  No  man  can  say  how  that  sustenance  will 
be  found,  but  it  will  be  supplied.  We  may  speak  sometimes  of 
the  method  of  its  production  almost  flippantly,  or  regard  it  with 
some  measure  of  indifference,  but  in  our  most  serious  moods  we 
shall  come  to  the  conclusion  that  after  all  there  is  a  hand,  infinite 
in  power  and  in  tenderness,  working  amid  the  affairs  of  men. 
But  the  other  lesson  is  just  as  true.  When  the  times  are  not  so 
hard  and  impracticable  and  inhospitable,  when  men  can  dig  and 
sow  and  cut  down  and  grind  and  bake  their  bread,  God  will  allow 
natural  processes  to  be  resumed,  and  he  will  so  far  throw  us  upon 
them  as  to  withdraw  what  may  be  termed  the  supernatural  or 
unimaginable.  This  is  the  very  way  of  life.  It  is  the  right  way 
in  the  house ;  it  is  the  right  way  in  the  culture  and  upbringing  of 
little  children  ;  it  is  the  very  secret  of  Providence  : — God  always 
near  to  us  if  there  is  no  meat  in  the  wilderness  ;  God  always  ready 
to  train  by  labour  when  labour  is  possible.  So  we  are  called  to 


Josh.  v.  II,  12.]  MEMORABLE  EVENTS. 


133 


duty,  to  diligence.  We  are  not  to  look  for  the  supernatural  so 
long  as  the  natural  is  available.  What  do  we  want  with  the 
miracles  when  the  whole  land  simply  waits  to  be  cultivated  in 
order  to  answer  our  industry  with  abundant  harvest  ?  If  any 
thing  unrighteously  stand  in  the  way  of  this  it  must  go  down  :  it 
will  inevitably  go  down,  for  God  is  with  humanity — the  whole, 
the  sum-total  quantity,  with  man,  and  for  man  all  things  shall  be 
smoothed,  and  man  shall  pass  on  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  divine 
idea.  Not  one  word  here  can  be  spoken  for  indolence  ;  not  a 
single  excuse  can  be  set  up  for  reluctance  to  labour.  The  light 
was  made  to  work  in.  He  who  invented  a  jet  that  should  break 
up  the  darkness  invented  a  method  of  extending  the  sphere  of 
industry.  We  are  not  to  look  to  fathers  and  mothers  to  do  for  us 
what  we  can  do  for  ourselves ;  it  is  unmanly,  ignoble,  unworthy. 
Depend  upon  it  the  fatherly  and  motherly  spirit  will  see  that  the 
wilderness  be  turned  into  a  fruitful  field,  if  it  be  impossible  for 
us  to  do  anything  by  ourselves ;  but  when  that  possibility  is  an 
open  fact  it  is  right  that  fatherly  and  motherly  care  should  be 
withdrawn,  and  if  not  withdrawn  its  continuance  becomes  a 
crime. 

A  wonderful  process  we  have  seen  in  all  these  readings. 
We  have  seen  the  cloud  by  day  displaced,  giving  way  to  the 
ark  of  the  covenant.  Hence  the  words,  “Ye  have  not  passed 
this  way  heretofore/’ — that  is,  as  we  have  seen,  Ye  have  not 
heretofore  had  the  ark  of  the  covenant  ahead  of  you,  but  only 
a  symbolic  cloud — now  the  cloud  goes  and  you  follow  a 
written  document.  We  have  seen  the  manna  displaced  by  the 
corn  of  Canaan  :  there  is  no  more  manna  because  the  corn 
is  plentiful,  and  nature  will  not  do  the  work  of  the  supernatural  : 
the  wx>rk  of  the  supernatural  is  not  indeed  amid  the  bounti¬ 
fulness  of  nature.  And,  further  than  this,  let  us  remind  ourselves 
again  and  again,  we  know  Christ  no  more  after  the  flesh  Paul 
says,  “He  is  risen.”  He  is  vanished.  There  is  no  fleshly  Christ 
now.  The  great  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  has  opened.  Under 
that  dispensation  we  live.  How  wondrously  we  have  returned 
to  the  cloud  period  and  the  fire-by-night  method  of  guiding 
the  world  ! — for  what  is  the  Spirit  but  as  it  were  a  cloud 
without  measure,  impalpable, — a  fire  we  cannot  touch,  yet  whose 
radiance  and  warmth  are  always  available  ?  We  live  under  the 


134 


THE  PEOPLE' S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  v.  1 1 , 1 2 . 


dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  under  the  dispensation  of  new 
influences,  new  movements  of  the  soul,  daily  inspirations  from 
Heaven  ;  and  so  living,  it  is  not  for  this  man  or  that  man  in 
his  individuality  to  arise  and  set  up  any  Church  in  his  own  name, 
saying,  I  have  a  special  revelation  from  God.  To-day  it  is 
humanity  that  is  inspired,  the  whole  Church  that  is  a  sacred 
priesthood.  This,  from  my  point  of  view,  is  the  true  philosophy 
of  succession.  It  is  folly  to  dispute  that  great  principle.  Who¬ 
ever  disputes  it  dissociates  himself  from  organic  history  and 
from  organic  humanity.  From  the  first  the  principle  of  suc¬ 
cession  has  been  asserted  in  the  Scriptures  ;  to  the  last  things 
were  committed  from  man  to  man — put  in  trust,  so  that  they 
have  been  handed  on  from  one  generation  to  another.  The  only 
thing  to  insist  upon  now  is  this  :  that  the  Church  is  the  great 
individual — the  whole  Church,  not  as  broken  up  into  communions, 
one  having  the  partiality  of  Heaven  and  another  living  under 
the  disapprobation  of  the  skies,  but  the  whole  redeemed  Church. 
There  is  a  common  sentiment,  a  common  cry — a  great,  grand 
faith  common  to  every  soul  in  all  the  uncounted  host.  It  is 
when  we  introduce  our  petty  opinions,  and  one  man  sets  up 
his  inferences  as  against  the  inferences  of  some  other  man,  that 
we  lose  touch  and  lose  the  altar,  and  lose  God.  From  these 
verbal  controversies  we  must  retire,  and  know  that  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  not  in  contentions,  in  philosophies,  in  vain  represen¬ 
tations  of  self-will  and  self-opinion ;  but  under  all  forms  of 
worship,  under  all  ecclesiasticisms,  there  is  a  spirit  common  to 
the  whole  redeemed  Church.  To  realise  the  presence  of  that 
spirit  is  to  enter  into  the  very  mystery  of  the  work  of  Christ 
and  to  understand  what  he  meant  when  he  prayed  that  we 
might  all  be  one,  as  he  was  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  him. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  thou  art  writing  thy  signs  upon  the  heavens  and  upon  the 
earth,  and  upon  all  the  flying  days  of  time.  Blessed  is  he  who  can  read 
them  and  apply  their  lessons  to  his  heart,  and  walk  according  to  their 
meaning.  We  can  discern  the  signs  of  the  weather — how  is  it  we  cannot 
discern  the  signs  of  the  times  ?  We  have  quick  vision  in  some  directions, 
and  yet  we  are  quite  blind  in  others.  We  are  double  men, — eloquent,  yet 
dumb;  bright  of  eye,  yet  dull  of  perception.  We  cannot  tell  what  we  are, 
we  are  so  confused  and  bewildered  within  our  own  consciousness.  Some¬ 
times  we  think  we  see  the  dawning  light :  then  we  sing  like  birds  that  are 
glad ;  then  the  whole  sky  is  a  great  cloud,  unbroken,  unblessed  with  a 
single  star ;  and  then  we  sink  into  silence  and  despair.  We  have  no 
constancy  of  life,  no  steadfastness  of  faith ;  our  souls  as  to  their  moods  veer 
about  like  the  incalculable  wind.  We  pray  that  our  faith  may  be  established, 
that  it  may  be  broad,  massive,  not  to  be  shaken,  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in 
the  power  of  his  might.  Lord,  increase  our  faith — especially  in  solidity,  that 
we  may  be  the  same  to-morrow  as  to-day,  confidently  hoping  in  God.  We 
know  what  thy  word  is  :  we  are  ennobled  as  we  read  it ;  no  man  can  utter 
such  words  as  thou  hast  written  without  being  enlarged  by  their  very 
perusal :  they  are  sublime,  they  are  full  of  God .  Still,  we  cannot  see  the 
application  of  thy  words ;  we  look  upon  life  within  some  one  day  and  say — 
Behold,  the  purpose  of  Heaven  is  frustrated,  and  the  counsel  of  the  Most  High 
is  turned  upside  down.  We  are  impatient,  because  ignorant ;  we  are 
furious,  because  weak.  We  would  be  calm  with  the  peace  of  God.  Help 
us  to  live  every  moment  as  if  it  were  the  last.  May  the  spirit  of  solemnity 
touch  our  whole  life ;  yet  may  we  feel  that  the  highest  solemnity  is 
consistent  with  the  purest  joy.  The  Lord  grant  unto  us  clear  shining  after 
rain.  The  Lord  bless  us  with  the  sound  of  the  turtle  when  the  winter  is 
over  and  gone.  We  love  the  summer  :  we  long  for  things  that  are  verdant 
and  beauteously  coloured,  and  we  long  to  hear  all  nature  sing.  If  the 
winter  days  must  come,  give  us  a  brave  heart,  a  true  faith,  and  may  we  so 
live  in  Christ,  God  the  Son,  that  the  winter  itself  shall  be  but  a  variation  of 
summer.  We  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  us.  He 
is  the  mighty  Saviour,  he  is  the  infinite  Redeemer;  there  is  none  other  who 
can  save.  He  died  for  us,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us 
to  God.  We  know  that  we  are  the  unjust;  we  would  flee  unto  the  living 
Christ  and  ask  him  to  give  us  all  he  has ;  the  very  asking  shall  express 
a  divine  inspiration,  the  very  desire  shall  bring  its  own  answer  and  comfort: 
thou  dost  not  excite  such  passions  in  the  soul  without  gratifying  them  with 
a  great  content.  Amen. 


136 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh. v.  13-15. 


Joshua  v.  13-15. 

“And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Joshua  was  by  Jericho,  that  he  lifted  up  his 
eyes  and  looked,  and,  behold,  there  stood  a  man  over  against  him  with  his 
sword  drawn  in  his  hand  :  and  Joshua  went  unto  him,  and  said  unto  him, 
Art  thou  for  us,  or  for  our  adversaries?  And  he  said,  Nay ;  but  as  captain 
of  the  host  of  the  Lord  am  I  now  come.  And  Joshua  fell  on  his  face  to  the 
earth,  and  did  worship,  and  said  unto  him,  What  saith  my  lord  unto  his 
servant  ?  And  the  captain  of  the  Lord’s  host  said  unto  Joshua,  Loose  thy 
shoe  from  off  thy  foot ;  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy.  And 
Joshua  did  so.” 


SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES. 


“  T  T  T  E  have  no  such  visions  now  ”  may  be  the  easy  comment 
V  V  of  men  who  walk  by  sight  and  not  by  faith.  Everything 
depends  upon  what  you  mean  by  “vision.”  Jesus  Christ  said — 
How  is  it  that  ye  cannot  discern  the  signs  of  the  times  ?  Jesus 
Christ  saw  signs.  All  men  whose  eyes  are  set  in  their  head  see 
tokens,  omens,  and  prefigurations  of  many  kinds  and  full  of 
urgent  suggestion.  We  should  see  more  if  we  looked  more.  He 
who  looks  sees.  But  there  is  a  looking  which  is  not  seeing — a 
casual  inspection,  a  hurried  glance,  a  superficial  regard  scarcely 
to  be  distinguished  from  utter  unconcern.  We  should  put  things 
together ;  we  should  follow  facts  until  they  become  laws.  This 
indeed  is  the  only  way  of  finding  out  laws — namely,  to  gather 
facts  together  from  every  quarter,  facts  of  every  quality  and 
every  degree ;  fearlessly  bring  together  whatever  has  been 
established  in  the  wray  of  fact,  and  then  w?hen  the  evidence  is 
thus  as  nearly  complete  as  our  time  can  make  it,  the  inference 
which  we  draw  from  this  collation  will  have  of  necessity  the 
authority  and  force  of  a  law.  We  must  not  judge  bjr  one  fact, 
nor  must  w^e  betake  ourselves  to  any  special  field  and  say — all 
the  facts  we  require  are  to  be  found  within  the  four  corners  of 
this  particular  plot.  All  facts  must  be  recognised,  admitted  into 
the  great  composition,  and  from  the  wdiole  of  them  we  must 
bring  those  inductions  wThich  settle  themselves  into  law,  until  still 
larger  facts  are  brought  in  to  displace  them  or  give  them  newness 
of  accent  and  value.  The  “  man  ”  is  still  standing  over  against  us. 
Nothing  has  been  lost  of  all  that  is  morally  significant  in  this 
apocalypse.  We  have  been  looking  in  the  wrong  direction,  or 
we  have  not  been  looking  with  sufficient  eagerness,  or  we  have 


Josh.  v.  13-15.]  SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES. 


137 


failed  before  the  spirit  of  languor,  having  succumbed  to  its  lull ; 
and  so  we  have  lost  our  hold  upon  the  age  and  all  its  forces. 
There  is  a  man  (visible  to  the  spiritual  eye)  standing  in  this  day 
or  in  that  day  over  the  whole  continent  with  a  drawn  sword. 
It  is  the  day  of  war.  We  shall  hear  presently,  when  we  see 
such  signs,  the  clash  of  battle.  All  the  uneasiness,  restlessness, 
discontent,  unholy  ambition  with  which  we  are  made  familiar 
from  time  to  time,  being  interpreted  means  that  the  war  spirit 
is  ahead,  is  animating  the  sentiment  of  nations,  is  troubling  the 
peace  of  the  world.  Thus  we  can  find  out  from  the  journals  of 
the  day  what  figure  it  is  that  presides  over  the  fortunes  of  the 
hour ;  but  we  must  bring,  let  us  repeat,  steadily  and  fearlessly, 
facts  from  every  quarter,  and  shape  them  into  this  man,  that  we 
may  through  facts  know  his  name,  his  figure,  and  his  purpose. 
Account  for  it  as  we  may,  u  coming  events  cast  their  shadows 
before.”  There  is  a  spirit  regulating  and  directing  all  things,  and 
we  may  see  with  considerable  clearness  of  vision  what  the  spirit 
of  the  age  is  if  we  will  only  open  our  eyes  and  look  at  events  and 
chasten  our  hearts,  and  study  them  with  religious  constancy. 
Sometimes  the  figure  changes  into  quite  another  expression. 
The  man  is  the  same,  but  he  is  bent  on  other  work.  The  sword 
has  gone.  What  has  he  in  his  hand  now  ? — a  plomb,  square, 
balances,  weights, — what  means  he  ?  He  says  he  will  rectify 
things  ;  he  will  reform,  and  he  will  reconstruct ;  he  will  have 
justice  done ;  he  will  apportion  things  on  another  principle  :  he 
will  carry  up  justice  to  generosity,  and  regulate  generosity  by 
justice  ;  he  counts  the  flock  and  says,  There  is  one  wanting,  and 
that  one  must  be  found.  He  audits  the  accounts  of  the  day  and 
he  says,  Every  man  has  not  had  his  due  ;  some  have  worked  and 
have  not  reaped  the  reward  of  their  labour,  and  the  cry  of  the 
labourer  has  entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth, 
That  is  the  image  of  reform,  which  has  displaced  the  spectre  of 
war  We  can  easily  see  that  figure  through  all  the  agitations 
and  sudden  movements  and  violent  and  even  spasmodic  and 
disastrous  efforts  of  the  times.  We  must  not  construe  such 
events  too  harshly  or  too  narrowly.  Within  themselves  and 
within  easily  given  limits  they  are  bad  and  they  are  only  to  be 
condemned ;  but  all  these  upheavals  have  a  history,  and  we 
cannot  judge  of  the  immediate  event  except  in  the  atmosphere 


138 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  v.  13-15. 


which  is  historical.  We  must  know  what  happened  generations 
ago.  There  is  no  event  which  belongs  merely  to  the  passing 
twenty-four  hours  :  hence  the  rashness  and  imperfectness  of 
our  judgment.  Now  this  spirit  which  is  in  the  air  from  time  to 
time,  standing  over  against  doomed  cities  and  doomed  institutions, 
can  easily  be  distinguished  if  we  ask  the  meaning  of  the  things 
that  are  going  on  round  about  us.  It  will  not  do  to  shut  our 
ears  and  say,  We  hear  nothing ;  to  close  our  eyes  and  to  say, 
Behold,  all  is  in  peace.  We  must  face  the  spectre ;  we  must 
look  at  the  image  of  the  time  ;  we  must  not  fear  the  form  which 
is  standing  over  against  a  nation,  or  a  continent,  or  the  world. 
Blessed  is  he  who  can  fearlessly  ask  the  meaning  of  that  presence 
and  interrogate  it  as  to  its  purpose.  They  are  short-sighted  men 
who  hurry  to  their  own  houses,  enclose  themselves  within  their 
own  quarters,  and  say,  every  fire  is  as  bright  as  their  own, 
every  table  is  well-laden,  and  every  house  is  well-cared  for. 
How  is  it  ye  cannot  discern  the  signs  of  the  times  ?  Rightly 
discerning  them,  you  will  be  patient  with  many  of  their  features. 
They  are  irritating,  exasperating ;  they  have  about  them  at  first 
sight  an  aspect  of  injustice,  and  in  their  assertion  there  may  be 
more  clamour  than  music;  but  we  must  see  the  reality  within 
the  appearance ;  we  must  penetrate  the  environment  if  we  would 
understand  the  soul  of  the  age.  Now  another  spirit  comes  over 
the  times.  What  is  the  man  like  who  now  holds  dominion 
over  the  current  thought  of  the  age  ?  He  has  no  sword ;  he  has 
in  his  hand, — books,  written  leaves,  scrolls  ;  his  eyes  are  deeply 
set  in  his  head,  his  head  is  bent  in  an  attitude  of  study,  perusal, 
meditation  akin  to  worship.  What  means  that  man  ?  He  says 
— I  will  have  all  the  people  well-informed  :  every  child  on  the 
face  of  the  earth  shall  be  taught  to  read  and  write  and  think; 
knowledge  is  power,  knowledge  is  self-control, — I  will  not  rest 
until  the  institution  of  ignorance  is  thrown  down  and  the  Jericho 
of  superstition  is  destroyed  ;  the  people  shall  be  taught,  and 
when  they  are  taught — well-taught  and  fully  taught — all  tyrannies 
will  go  down — priestly,  social,  imperial ;  and  the  Son  of  man 
shall  come — the  glorious  and  complete  humanity :  the  very 
Christ  of  God  shall  be  realised  in  the  newly-constructed  race. 
Are  there  not  times  when  this  is  perfectly  evident  ?  We  say, 
the  day  is  given  up  to  the  work  of  education.  That  is  too  short 


Josh.  v.  13-15.]  SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES. 


139 


and  superficial  a  way  of  accounting  for  things.  The  spirits  do 
not  come  and  go  by  some  rule  of  mere  whim  or  fancy.  There 
is  a  purpose  in  the  ages,  a  method  in  the  infinite  government  of 
things.  Now  the  man  has  a  sword ;  now  he  weighs  with  the 
balances  of  the  sanctuary  ;  now  he  cries,  Come,  and  be  taught ; 
come,  and  read  and  think,  and  chasten  your  life  by  the  spirit  of 
knowledge  : — how  long,  ye  simple  ones,  will  ye  love  simplicity, 
and  ye  fools  hate  knowledge?  We  must  accept  the  spirit  of  the 
times,  and  work  according  to  its  inspirations.  We  cannot  double 
one  age  over  another,  or  turn  the  ages  backward  to  catch  some 
ancient  spirit ;  every  day  has  its  dawn,  its  own  particular 
meaning,  its  own  special  and  definite  opportunity ;  and  blessed 
is  he  who  can  read  the  spectres^  in  the  air  so  as  to  make  out  the 
purpose  of  their  coming  and  the  end  of  their  revelation.  Who 
does  not  see  in  our  own  day  another  attitude  and  expression  of 
the  same  spirit  ?  What  is  the  man  doing  now  ?  He  has  no 
sword,  no  balance,  no  book,  we  can  see  :  they  are  still  within  his 
reach  ;  but  now  what  does  he  ?  He  weeps :  he  is  in  sorrow. 
He  does  not  shed  tears  for  himself  but  for  others : — 11  Jesus 
wept.”  What  spirit  is  it  that  rules  the  age  ?  A  spirit  of  pity, 
compassion,  tenderness  ;  a  spirit  that  has  heard  the  sighing  and 
crying  of  all  earth’s  weary  trouble,  and  that  bends  over  the 
suffering  creation  with  infinite  compassion.  Now  every  one  is 
trying  to  alleviate  distress,  to  make  homes  glad,  to  bring  in  the 
erring  and  far-straying  one.  The  great  question  is,  What  can 
be  done  to  chase  away  poverty,  to  make  the  sad  happy,  to  dry 
the  tears  of  sorrow,  to  plant  flowers  on  the  tomb  of  mortality  ? 
“  Can  ye  not  discern  the  signs  of  the  times  ?  ”  Why  should  we 
attempt  to  change  those  signs  when  they  are  providential  writing, 
every  day  having  its  own  duty,  and  its  own  vocation,  and  its  own 
opportunity  ?  Blessed  is  that  servant  who  can  hear  the  footfall 
of  his  Lord’s  coming,  and  understand  somewhat  of  the  signs  of 
the  times,  and  who  is  not  trying  to  do  something  that  was  quite 
in  place  five  hundred  years  ago,  but  who  is  answering  the  call  of 
this  very  morning  with  instancy  of  obedience  and  with  absolute 
consecration  of  love.  Live  in  your  own  day;  express  the  spirit  of 
your  own  time  ;  be  fearless  ;  11  Quit  you  like  men.” 

The  right  reading  of  these  signs  brings  us  into  a  sure  and 
blessed  consciousness  of  a  spiritual  presence.  We  begin  to 


140 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh. v.  13-15. 


feel  that  things  are  ghostly,  rather  than  material.  There  is 
matter  enough  on  which  the  broad  hand  can  lay  itself,  and 
about  which  there  can  be  no  dispute ;  but  the  more  we  put 
history  together  into  shape  and  form,  and  w'atch  it  assuming 
its  true  colour,  the  more  we  begin  to  say,  Surely  God  is  in 
this  history  and  I  knew  it  not  ;  this  is  none  other  than  the 
house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven.  We  have 
missed  the  spirit.  We  have  thought  things  were  all  living 
according  to  some  rule  of  their  own,  without  relation,  without 
responsibility  one  to  the  other ;  we  looked  upon  things  as 
constituting  a  kind  of  seething  chaos ;  but  the  more  patient, 
the  more  highly  chastened  we  are  in  mind,  the  more  sober 
in  understanding,  and  the  more  fearless,  the  more  do  we  see 
that — account  for  it  as  we  may,  or  not  account  for  it  at  all — 
there  is  a  spirit  that  rules,  and  guides,  and  directs  everything. 
The  chariots  of  God  are  twenty  thousand  in  number.  In  what 
chariot  he  will  come  to-morrow,  none  can  tell.  It  is  not  for 
us  to  say  whether  this  or  that  chariot  is  God’s.  The  number 
baffles  us ;  we  cannot  read  a  record  of  the  whole.  God  will 
come  into  his  own  universe  as  it  pleases  him. 

When  we  are  in  great  religious  moods,  in  sublime  spiritual 
ecstasies,  in  immediate  and  vital  touch  with  God,  we  are  not 
afraid  to  adopt  apparently  impracticable  measures  in  carrying 
out  the  purposes  of  righteousness  and  wisdom.  What  could  be 
more  ridiculous,  from  a  purely  military  point  of  view,  than 
the  directions  given  for  the  capture  and  overthrow  of  Jericho? 
They  had  no  relation  to  the  event.  On  the  face  of  them,  from  a 
military  point  of  view,  they  were  absurd  : — the  carrying  an 
ark  around  the  walls  of  the  city,  walking  round  the  city  day 
by  day  for  seven  days,  blowing  a  loud  blast  of  trumpets, — 
and  the  wall  should  fall,  and  the  city  should  surrender !  We 
are  quite  prepared  for  the  mocker  to  enjoy  himself  over  such 
an  absurd  proposition.  But  what  is  absurdity  ?  The  foolishness 
of  God  is  wiser  than  the  wisdom  of  men.  We  cannot  always 
judge  things  by  appearances.  We  ourselves  are  often  startled 
by  the  want — apparent,  at  least — of  adaptation  of  means  to  ends. 
Life  is  carried  by  surprises ;  the  whole  scheme  of  things  is 
made  remarkable  by  sudden  incomings  and  new  interpretations 
and  positions.  To  describe  great  historical  events  as  in  any 


Josh.  v.  13-15.]  SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES. 


141 


measure  absurd,  is  to  approach  the  danger  of  self-idolatry  by 
exalting  personal  judgment  above  the  occurrences  of  ancient  or 
modern  times.  The  religious  method  may  always  be  called 
impracticable.  It  is  very  slow ;  it  does  not  seem  to  work  with 
any  immediate  effect.  What  can  be  duller,  slower,  than  what 
is  generally  understood  as  teaching?  Yet  it  is  by  teaching 
that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  to  be  prepared  for, — sitting 
down  with  men  and  communicating  ideas  to  them,  endeavouring 
to  touch  their  higher  natures,  to  move  their  mental  springs,  to 
bring  their  whole  mental  life  into  relation  to  other  and  un¬ 
familiar  truths.  It  is  a  very  slow  method.  One  gleam  from 
heaven’s  own  midday  w^ould  startle  the  world  more  surely  I 
Why  not  this  sudden  outburst  of  intolerable  glory  ?  Because 
there  is  no  lasting  in  it,  no  power  of  duration  and  sustenance. 
Men  cannot  live  upon  such  visions.  Men  are  so  constituted  that 
they  can  only  live  upon  knowledge,  truth,  conviction,  moral 
persuasions,  ideas  that  vitalise  and  ennoble  their  whole  nature. 
The  apostle  is  said  to  have  spoken  of  “the  foolishness  of 
preaching.”  That  is  a  sentence  very  often-  misunderstood. 
The  apostle  was  not  speaking  of  the  foolishness  of  preaching 
as  an  art  and  practice,  because  he  was  addressing  himself  to 
men  who  valued  eloquence  above  all  other  gifts ;  he  was 
speaking  of  the  foolishness  of  the  thing  that  was  preached — the 
foolishness  of  the  Cross  :  the  idea  that  a  dying  man  was  to  be 
king  of  the  universe  ;  that  a  slain  victim  was  to  sit  upon  the 
eternal  throne,  judging  and  directing  all  things  in  righteous¬ 
ness  and  love.  The  apostle  represents  in  his  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  the  very  picture  which  we  have  in  relation  to  the 
capture  of  Jericho.  Things  that  are  not,  are  employed  to  bring 
to  nought  things  that  are.  Foolish  things,  little  things,  con¬ 
temptible  things,  are  used  by  the  hand  almighty  to  shake  down 
towers  and  walls  and  temples  and  capitals,  and  bring  them  to 
nought  before  the  throne  of  righteousness.  Thus  religion  is 
not  afraid  of  the  impracticable — at  least,  of  what  may  appear  to 
be  impracticable  to  those  who  look  only  upon  the  surface. 
Religion  has  never  been  afraid  to  claim  prayer  as  one  of  its 
very  pillars — the  signature  of  its  very  power.  What  can, 
from  the  outside,  be  more  futile  and  ridiculous  than  to  be 
speaking  into  the  vacant  air — to  exclude  all  living  things  upon 


14  2 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh. v.  13-15. 


the  earth,  and  to  speak  to  one  we  have  never  seen,  and  pour 
our  heart’s  penitence,  woe,  hope,  into  an  ear  we  cannot  detect 
amid  all  the  clouds  which  float  through  the  heavens  ?  Yet  religion 
says,  “Continue  instant  in  prayer;”  you  have  no  other  hope; 
there  is  a  throne  accessible ;  heed  not  the  voices  that  mock 
you  ;  you  cannot  pray  without  being  the  purer  for  the  prayer ; 
the  words  of  prayer  cleanse  the  mouth  that  uses  them ;  the 
desire  expressed  in  prayer  purges  the  heart  in  which  it  burns, — 
u  pray  without  ceasing.”  So  religious  men  ought  not  to  be 
deterred  by  apparent  impracticableness ;  by  the  mocker,  who 
has  but  two  hands,  and  wants  to  use  them  both  in  great 
impetuosity  ;  by  the  giber  and  sneerer,  who  wants  all  things 
done  to-day.  We  are  content  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  Jesus 
Christ.  If  we  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  we  would 
exercise  great  sovereignties ;  we  would  kill  the  wolf  of  hunger 
long  before  he  came  to  our  door ;  we  would  be  full  of  wealth 
within,  without  a  coal  in  the  grate,  or  a  crust  in  the  cupboard  ; 
we  would  have  triumphed  over  death  ere  yet  we  had  seen 
his  ghostly  figure.  Besides,  processes  may  be  long,  and  results 
may  be  brought  about  in  startling  suddenness.  We  have  read 
of  a  place  not  far  from  the  city  of  New  York  which  was 
called  Hell’s  Gate,  a  dangerous  place  for  navigators, — in  fact, 
practically  an  impassable  gate.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  It  was 
to  be  attacked  with  the  slowness  of  wisdom,  with  the  calmness 
of  science ;  men  must  go  down  into  that  great  rocky  region  nine 
acres  in  extent;  they  must  pierce  the  rock,  and  fill  the  cavities 
with  dynamite.  Month  by  month  they  must  work  at  that 
and  come  slowly  up,  and  still  Hell’s  Gate  defies  the  navigator. 
The  year  passed,  and  another  year,  and  still  the  process  goes  on. 
Science  says,  Be  calm,  industrious ;  the  process  is  very 
tedious ;  we  do  not  wonder  that  men  are  weary  with  waiting ; 
but  continue  the  work,  stroke  by  stroke,  day  by  day.  Now  you 
are  within  a  month  of  closing  your  labours, — now  but  one  little 
week  remains, — now  to-morrow  all  you  can  do  in  that  prepara¬ 
tory  direction  will  be  done.  A  strange  hush  falls  upon  the 
interested  public.  What  is  to  be  the  issue  ?  See,  the  rocky 
gate  still  remains  ;  there  it  abides  to  mock  the  scientific  engineer ; 
facts  are  against  him  :  the  rock  has  been  hammered,  tunnelled, 
pierced,  charged  with  dynamite;  but  it  is  still  there,  and  not 


Josh.  v.  13-15.]  SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES. 


143 


a  ship  dare  come  near.  The  scientific  engineer  knows  more  than 
the  ignorant  public.  He  says,  I  think  we  are  ready  now,  and 
tells  his  own  little  girl,  far  off,  to  touch  a  tiny  knob  and  com¬ 
municate  an  electric  spark  according  to  his  directions.  The  spark 
is  communicated,  and  the  nine  acres  of  rock,  and  all  the  water 
floating  over  them,  are  heaved  two  hundred  feet  into  the  air  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye, —  rent,  torn,  never  to  be  put  together 
again ;  and  it  will  require  some  two  years  or  more  to  take  away 
the  rent  stones.  So  there  is  a  period  of  waiting,  a  period  of 
preparation,  a  period  of  clearing  out ;  but  who  can  tell  what 
sudden  things  may  occur  anywhere — in  cities,  in  states,  in  doomed 
laws  ?  What  we  are  doing  now,  if  we  are  wise  servants  of 
the  King,  is  to  go  down  morning  by  morning  to  our  work — 
preaching  the  gospel,  teaching  the  young,  standing  up  in  living 
testimony  for  righteousness :  and  the  Lord  will  suddenly  come 
to  his  temple.  Blessed  is  that  servant  who  shall  be  found 
waiting,  watching,  working.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
communication  of  the  electric  spark  ;  that  is  in  the  hands  of 
God.  Hope  on,  work  on ;  who  can  tell  when  the  end  may  be  ? 
Yet  now  and  again  on  the  road  we  are  blessed  with  visions 
which  give  us  comfort  and  encouragement.  In  1832  the  most 
celebrated  naturalist  in  the  world,  our  illustrious  countryman 
Charles  Darwin,  went  round  the  world  in  a  ship  called  the  Beagle. 
The  diary  of  that  circumnavigation  is  full  of  abiding  interest. 
The  great  naturalist  called  at  Tierra  del  Fuego  on  the  South 
American  coast.  His  description  of  the  people  of  that  part 
of  the  world  is  full  of  horror ;  he  says  he  never  saw  such  people. 
They  represented  the  very  lowest  type  he  had  ever  seen  of 
humanity.  They  were  savages  of  the  worst  degree  and  quality. 
No  civilised  man  dare  approach  that  awful  place;  the  figures 
of  the  people  were  shocking  to  behold  ;  their  habits  were  not 
to  be  described  in  language.  The  naturalist  left  them,  supposing 
them  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  civilisation.  This  is  the  testimony, 
not  of  a  missionary,  but  of  a  naturalist — a  man  supposed  to  be 
without  religious  emotion.  One  day  a  little  babe  was  found 
lying  on  the  streets  of  Bristol,  in  very  deed  a  foundling,  without 
known  father  or  mother,  or  friends,  a  little  crying  thing  in 
all  the  wilderness  of  life — “  Oh,  it  was  pitiful ! — near  a  whole  city¬ 
ful,  home  it  had  none.”  The  day  on  which  it  was  found,  by 
a  constable,  was  St.  Thomas’s  Day ;  so  the  infant  was  called 


i44 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE,  [Josh. v.  13-15. 


by  the  name  of  the  dead  Thomas.  The  child  was  found  in  a 
place  which  lay  between  two  bridges  of  the  city,  so  was 
called  Thomas  Bridges.  The  little  foundling  was  lodged  in 
the  workhouse,  and  brought  up  on  the  public  bounty.  Years 
came  and  went,  and  the  boy,  now  a  young  man,  longed  to  be 
a  missionary.  He  offered  his  services  to  the  Church  Missionary 
Society ;  having  special  work  in  that  part  of  the  world  which  we 
have  just  described  in  the  language  of  Darwin,  he  went  out,  not 
fearing  what  might  befall  him.  The  gospel  is  heroic;  it  has 
never  been  terrified.  He  went  amongst  the  people,  lived 
amongst  them,  heard  their  curious  vocal  tones,  put  them  into 
shape,  created  a  language  for  the  people,  interested  them  in 
these  forms  which  he  had  traced  with  his  own  hand,  taught 
them  to  read  the  forms  and  understand  them, — every  day  living 
in  peril  of  his  life.  He  translated  part  of  the  story  of  the 
Saviour’s  life,  and  got  the  people  to  read  it  in  the  Yah-gan  tongue. 
They  read  it,  understood  a  little  of  it,  were  melted  by  it,  and 
they  wanted  to  read  still  further ;  and  the  missionary  translated 
more  of  the  Blessed  Word  into  the  tongue  which  he  may  be  said 
to  have  created,  and  the  people  read,  and  were  subdued  and 
civilised  and  christianised  ;  and  the  facts  were  brought  before 
the  great  English  naturalist,  and  he — honest,  fearless  soul, 
pure  and  noble  in  every  instinct — instantly  subscribed  to  the 
Missionary  Society,  one  of  whose  agents  had  wrought,  under  God, 
this  stupendous  change.  The  English  Admiralty  had  issued 
orders  that  that  part  of  the  coast  was  not  to  be  approached 
by  their  ships ;  hearing  of  the  change  that  had  taken  place, 
the  orders  were  recalled,  ships  were  allowed  to  go  to  visit 
and  to  trade  there.  What  wrought  that  mighty,  wondrous 
change  ?  Let  us  be  honest ;  let  us  be  fearless.  It  was  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  Agnosticism  did  not  do  it;  Secularism  did 
not  do  it ;  Rationalism  did  not  do  it :  the  heroic  Cross  did  it ; 
Christ  did  it.  It  was  impracticable  as  to  its  mechanical  arrange¬ 
ments,  laughable,  absurd,  contemptible  ;  but  it  was  done. 

11  Fly  abroad,  thou  mighty  gospel, 

Win  and  conquer,  never  cease ; 

May  thy  lasting,  wide  dominion 
Multiply  and  still  increase. 

Sway  thy  sceptre, 

Saviour,  all  the  world  around.” 


Amen,  amen ! 


SIGN'S  OF  THE  TIMES . 


145 


The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  graphic  account  of  the 
destruction  of  Hell  Gate  Rock,  which  appeared  in  the  New  York 
Times  the  day  after  the  explosion  : — 

Over  nine  acres  of  obstructing  rock  formed  the  barrier  which  was 
yesterday  destroyed.  Just  21,670  feet  of  tunnelling,  in  galleries  whose 
floors  lay  from  50  to  64  feet  below  mean  low  tide,  with  walls  from  10  to  24 
feet  thick  between  them,  and  supported  by  467  columns  of  rock,  each  15  feet 
square,  had  been  charged  with  cartridges  filled  with  explosives.  In  an 
instant  the  tremendous  convulsion  of  an  explosion  reaching  through  those 
four  miles  of  galleries  tore  the  solid  rocks  asunder,  and  hurled  them  in 
broken  masses  into  the  waters  of  the  river.  And  when  those  shattered 
pieces  have  been  gathered  up  and  taken  away  by  the  dredgers,  Hell  Gate 
will  have  lost  its  dangers,  and  the  wrinkled  front  of  navigation  through  the 
Sound  will  have  been  smoothed  into  an  inviting  smile.  Ocean  steamers 
will  find  26  feet  of  good,  clear  water  over  the  once  treacherous  bottom,  and  a 
new  highway  will  be  open  for  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

People  held  their  breath.  Eyes  were  strained  and  riveted  on  the  bare 
brown  rock.  There  was  a  death-like  silence.  No  one  saw  her,  but  over  on 
the  Astoria  shore  a  young  girl,  the  daughter  of  General  Newton,  was 
preparing  to  free  the  imprisoned  forces.  Nine  years  ago,  when  but  a 
prattling  babe,  her  tiny  finger  had  performed  the  same  office.  Then  she 
could  not  know  what  she  did.  But  yesterday  what  did  she  think  ? 

Away  it  flew,  that  viewless  spark,  to  loose  three  hundred  thousand 
chained  demons  buried  in  darkness  and  the  cold,  salt  waves  under  the  iron 
rocks.  A  deep  rumble,  then  a  dull  boom,  like  the  smothered  bursting  of  a 
hundred  mighty  guns  far  away  beyond  the  blue  horizon,  rolled  across  the 
yellow  river.  Up,  up,  and  still  up  into  the  frightened  air  soared  a  great, 
ghastly,  writhing  wall  of  white  and  silver  and  grey.  Fifty  gigantic  g^sers, 
linked  together  by  shivering,  twisting  masses  of  spray,  soared  upward,  their 
shining  pinnacles,  with  dome-like  summits,  looming  like  shattered  floods  of 
molten  silver  against  the  azure  sky.  Three  magnificent  monuments  of  solid 
water  sprang  far  above  the  rest  of  the  mass,  the  most  westerly  of  them  still 
rising  after  all  else  had  begun  to  fall,  till  it  towered  nearly  200  feet  in  air. 
To  east  and  west  the  waters  rose,  a  long  blinding  sheet  of  white.  Far  and 
wide  the  great  wall  spread,  defying  the  human  eye  to  take  in  its  breadth  and 
height  and  thickness.  The  contortion  of  the  wreathed  waters  was  like  the 
dumb  agony  of  some  stricken  thing. 

For  a  trembling  moment  the  sublime  spectacle  stood  sharp  against  the 
sky,  like  a  mighty  vision  of  distant  snow-capped  mountains.  Then  down, 
down,  and  still  down  the  enormous  mass  rushed  with  a  wild  hissing,  as  if  ten 
thousand  huge  steam  valves  had  been  opened.  The  yellow  waters  of  the 
river  were  riven  and  torn  into  immense  boiling  masses  of  white  foam.  Great 
waves,  ten  feet  high,  rolled  outward.  Big  streaks  and  spots  of  deep  brown 
mingled  with  the  white  and  made  ominous  shadows  under  the  silver  lights. 
All  around  the  rocks  the  river  swirled  and  rolled  and  leaped  upward,  like 
the  whirlpool  of  Niagara.  A  dazzling  yellow  cloud— the  pent-up  gases  of 
that  subterrene  convulsion — spread  over  the  spot.  Then  it  widened  and  turned 

VOL.  V. 


IO 


146 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


to  a  brilliant  green,  then  to  a  faint  blue,  and  floated  slowly  away  toward 
Astoria.  Showers  of  spray  fell  like  summer  rain  through  the  air,  and  re¬ 
turned  to  the  river.  The  big  hoisting  apparatus  over  the  shaft  had  toppled 
over  and  lay  broken  and  smashed  on  its  side.  It  had  not  risen  into  the  air. 
Not  a  stone  was  seen  to  go  upward.  The  wall  of  ghost-like  waters  was  un¬ 
broken.  And  when  the  spray  had  sunk  down,  and  the  waters  of  the  river, 
filled  with  brown  mud,  lay  boiling  around  the  site  of  the  great  explosion, 
there  lay  the  old  rock,  torn  into  myriads  of  pieces  and  scattered  with  debris 
— a  ragged,  smoking,  dun-brown  mass.  Troja  fuit  (Flood  Rock  was). 

A  hundred  steam  whistles  broke  into  a  shriek  of  triumph,  and  cheers  were 
heard  on  every  side.  Then  the  oarsmen  in  the  rowboats  bowed  their  backs, 
and  the  steamers  opened  up  their  valves,  and  all  hands  on  the  water  hastened 
to  the  scene  of  the  explosion.  All  around  the  place  the  water  was  turned 
to  a  dirty  brown  by  the  upheaval  of  the  bottom  of  the  river.  The  foam  was 
still  bubbling,  nearly  ten  minutes  after  the  explosion.  Thousands  of  pieces 
of  wood,  mingled  with  marine  weeds  and  myriads  of  dead  fish,  killed  by  the 
shock,  were  floating  down  into  the  East  River.  Wide  sheets  of  feathery 
scum,  such  as  may  be  seen  along  the  sea-shore  after  a  gale,  were  lying  on 
the  surface  of  the  water.  It  was  all  a  dingy  brown,  tinted  with  the  colour 
of  the  riven  rock  and  earth.  Among  the  foam  and  scum  floated  quantities 
of  fine,  yellowish  powder,  which  looked  like  sawdust.  It  was  the  material 
of  which  the  covering  of  the  cartridges  was  made.  As  more  than  75,000  of 
them  had  exploded,  the  quantity  of  this  powder  was  not  surprising. 

“The  survey,”  says  General  John  Newton,  the  engineer,  “will  occupy  two 
or  three  weeks,  and  when  that  is  completed,  and  the  necessary  advertise¬ 
ments  can  be  published,  the  work  of  removing  the  broken  rock  will  begin. 
This  will  occupy  two  or  three  years  ....  and  will  probably  cost  $500,000. 
....  The  channel  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  practically  doubled,  and, 
when  the  rock  is  removed,  wdll  be  fully  1200  feet  in  width,  as  compared  with 
600  feet,  its  present  dimensions.  New  York  can  get  along  very  well  without 
the  removal  of  the  other  rocks  and  reefs  in  the  Hell  Gate  basin,  and,  if 
necessary,  a  new  entrance  for  ocean  steamers  is  afforded.  At  certain  stages 
of  the  tide  they  can  come  in  through  the  new  channel  without  any  trouble 
whatever,  and  with  very  little  trouble  at  any  stage  of  the  tide.  The 
principal  difficulty  of  Hell  Gate  Channel  will  hereafter  not  be  on  account  of 
its  width  or  depth,  but  will  be  due  to  the  crowded  nature  of  the  thorough¬ 
fare.  There  will  be  fully  26  feet  of  wrater,  and,  when  all  the  debris  is 
removed,  probably  more.” 

I  reprint  this  account  because  of  its  suggestiveness  in  many 
spiritual  directions. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  we  would  do  everything  according  to  thy  will.  Do  thou 
settle  everything  for  us,  and  simply  entrust  us  with  thy  commandment.  Not 
our  will,  but  thine,  be  done.  We  would  have  no  concern  except  with  the 
dignity  and  sacredness  of  thy  purpose,  our  hearts’  desire  being  that  thy  will 
should  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven.  To  this  end  do  thou 
grant  unto  us  daily  the  comforting  ministry  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  the 
spirit  of  disobedience  may  be  cast  out  of  us,  and  the  spirit  of  loyalty  may  be 
established  within  us.  Without  thee  we  can  do  nothing ;  without  thy 
Spirit  we  are  blind,  selfish,  utterly  ignorant,  as  well  as  helpless.  We  there¬ 
fore  cast  ourselves  upon  God,  and  would  be  God’s  chosen  servants,  instru¬ 
ments  in  his  hands,  vessels  to  be  used  as  he  may  direct  or  wish.  This  is  the 
Lord’s  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes.  Whilst  we  were  perverse 
and  self-willed,  we  knew  not  what  was  right  and  what  was  best,  and  would 
listen  to  no  voice,  but  would  repel  every  advancing  teacher.  Now  we  have 
returned  to  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  our  souls ;  we  have  seen  our  folly ; 
we  mourn  our  sin  ;  we  would  now,  through  Jesus  Christ,  the  Priest  of  the 
everlasting  Covenant,  be  made  one  with  the  living  God.  We  come  always 
by  the  Cross  of  Christ ;  there  we  find  the  loving,  compassionate,  forgiving 
God  ;  there  we  find  law  satisfied,  righteousness  exalted,  compassion 
made  possible,  and  pardon  offered  to  the  sons  of  guilt.  Hear  us,  then,  as  we 
pray  for  more  light,  more  truth,  for  deeper  peace,  for  a  sweeter  consent  to 
all  the  will  of  God.  May  we  be  enabled  to  say,  by  day  and  by  night,  in 
summer  and  in  winter,  on  the  birthday  and  the  day  of  death,  It  is  well,  it  is 
best,  for  God’s  holy  will  is  done.  Dry  the  tears  of  our  sorrow,  comfort  us 
in  our  unspoken  distresses,  enter  into  our  hearts  and  see  what  is  wrong 
there,  and  if  there  be  in  us  any  wicked  way,  cast  it  out  and  make  our 
hearts  beautiful  as  thine  own  temples,  holy  as  thine  own  sanctuaries. 
Direct  us  amid  all  perplexity,  show  us  what  is  right,  wise,  just,  and  good ; 
keep  down  within  us  all  evil  temper,  all  rebelliousness,  all  self-will ;  fill  us 
with  the  spirit  of  charity,  which  is  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  under  its  blessed 
inspiration  may  we  do  our  day’s  work  and  await  the  issue  of  the  toil. 
Amen. 


Joshua  vi. 


DISCIPLINE. 

E  have  seen  how,  from  a  certain  point  of  view,  all  the 


arrangements  made  for  the  capture  of  the  walled  city 


were  obviously  impracticable — from  a  military  point  of  view, 


148 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  vi. 


simply  absurd.  We  are  now  prepared  to  advance  a  step,  and 
look  at  one  or  two  of  the  almost  hidden  points  of  the  narrative 
with  a  view  to  its  illumination  from  incidental  lights  and 
references.  Our  object  will  be  to  find  out  how  far  these  points 
are  confirmed  by  our  own  experience  and  observation,  how 
far  they  commend  themselves  as  probably  historical  to  our 
religious  consciousness.  The  subject  before  us  may  well  be 
described  as  the  subject  of  Discipline.  The  men  were  held  in 
severe  check.  The  laws  laid  down  for  their  marching  and 
general  conduct  were  laws  marked  by  great  rigour.  Let  us 
inquire  whether  those  laws  were  merely  arbitrary,  expressing 
the  will  of  one  man,  and  limited  as  to  their  action  to  one  locality 
or  to  one  event.  If  we  find  that  they  were  simply  arbitrary, 
thus  local,  and  thus  limited,  they  can  have  no  deep  moral  concern 
for  us ;  if  we  find  that  they  were  not  arbitrary,  but  were  part 
of  the  gracious  necessity  of  things,  we  may  read  another  lesson 
on  that  sublime  doctrine  the  continuity  of  man,  the  oneness  of 
God,  the  infiniteness  and  unchangeableness  of  law. 

Was  it  not  of  the  nature  of  discipline  that  the  men  were  to 
have  arms,  and  yet  were  not  to  use  them  ?  Was  not  that  a  great 
lesson  in  the  most  difficult  of  all  arts — the  art  of  self-control  ? 
That  the  men  were  armed  is  clear  from  the  ninth  verse,  wdiich 
opens  with  the  words,  “  And  the  armed  men  went  before  the 
priests.”  Yet  no  arm  was  to  be  used.  Had  the  men  been 
without  arms,  they  would  not  have  felt  the  pressure  of  the 
discipline.  Is  it  not  a  continual  lesson  in  life  that,  having 
certain  things  capable  of  executing  immediate  effects,  we  are 
yet  to  let  them  fall  as  it  were  by  our  side,  and  to  look  in  other 
directions,  and  to  adopt  other  methods  in  view  of  deliverance 
and  victory  ?  It  is  hard  to  have  the  weapon,  to  see  the  thing 
that  is  to  be  done,  and  to  know  that  the  proposed  thing  could 
be  done  by  the  use  of  the  weapon,  and  yet  to  allow  it 
to  remain  in  disuse.  This  is  part  of  the  continual  discipline 
of  life  ;  this  is  what  we  are  all  called  upon  to  do  to-day.  We  do 
not  use  all  our  faculties  ;  sometimes  we  have  almost  to  strip 
ourselves  of  our  distinctive  faculties,  or  to  let  them  lie  in  disuse, 
and  to  be  doing  everything  by  doing  nothing.  This  is  part 
of  a  deeply-planned  scheme  of  education.  The  government  that 


Josh,  vi.] 


DISCIPLINE. 


149 


has  established  this  law  in  the  great  school  of  human  culture 
moves  in  wide  ranges,  is  apparently  not  careful  about  immediate 
effects,  has  contemplated  the  acquisition  of  issues  upon  a  scheme 
and  upon  lines  which  transcend  the  impatient  imagination  of 
man.  To  see  the  stone  which  could  be  thrown  at  the  enemy, 
and  to  know  that  our  right  hand  has  the  power  and  skill  to 
throw  that  stone,  yet  to  walk  past  it,  as  if  it  were  not  discerned, 
is  a  lesson  worth  learning.  To  know  that  it  lies  easily  within 
your  power  to  blast  an  opponent  with  satire  or  bitterness  which 
he  could  not  endure,  and  yet  to  treat  him  with  all  courtesy  and 
deference,  is  no  small  attainment  in  Christian  education.  To 
have  the  power,  and  yet  not  to  use  it — that  is  how  we  stand  in 
the  school  of  Christ.  This  is  how  Jes  s  Christ  himself  con¬ 
ducted  his  own  life  in  the  sight  of  men.  He  did  not  use  all 
his  faculties ;  he  did  not  call  into  requisition  all  his  resources ; 
he  was  quiet  when  he  might  have  been  restless,  calm  when  he 
might  have  excited  a  tumult  which  would  have  had  all  the  effect 
of  an  unexpected  and  irresistible  storm.  When  one  offered  to 
defend  him,  he  said,  Nay,  not  thus ;  thou  dost  not  understand 
the  spirit  of  the  kingdom  ;  thinkest  thou  that  I  could  not  now  pray 
unto  my  Father,  and  he  would  send  twelve  legions  of  angels, 
which  would  look  all  these  petty  enemies  into  dismay  ?  We 
must  not  use  all  our  resources.  We  have  the  strength,  but  do 
not  resort  to  the  tyranny  of  using  it.  Some  things  are  to  be 
accomplished  by  submission,  patience,  meekness;  knowing  the 
righteousness  of  the  cause,  we  await  the  issue  with  imperturbable 
calm.  But  what  a  lesson  this  is  to  those  who  are  impatient ! 
We  want  things  done  at  once,  and  when  asked  as  to  the  prac¬ 
ticability  of  their  accomplishment,  we  point  to  arms,  and  weapons, 
and  stones,  and  faculties,  and  say,  Why  not  put  all  these  things 
instantaneously  into  action,  and  the  issue  is  a  matter  of  easy 
calculation  ?  We  admit  all  this  with  regard  to  military  arrange¬ 
ments  ;  and,  so  far  as  the  proposition  is  kept  within  what  may 
be  termed  abstract  limits,  we  have  no  hesitation  whatever  in 
adopting  it  in  some  measure  ;  but  it  is  a  proposition  which  touches 
every  life.  To  be  armed,  and  yet  to  be  peaceful ;  to  have 
weapons,  and  not  to  use  them  ;  to  stand  with  a  hand  upon  a  gun, 
one  discharge  of  which  might  shatter  the  walls  of  the  enemy, 
and  yet  to  fall  down  before  that  gun  as  if  it  were,  a  sacred 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  vi.  18, 19. 


*50 


altar,  and  there  wait  with  bowed  head  and  clasped  hands  the 
revelation  of  the  divine  will — that  is  religion.  Anything  short 
of  that  is  vanity,  self-will,  impatience  ;  the  kind  of  thing  which  is 
valued  by  men  who  mistake  the  bubble  for  the  river,  the  thunder 
for  the  lightning.  Life  without  discipline  is  life  without  dignity. 

Was  it  not,  further,  of  the  nature  of  discipline  for  the  men  to 
be  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  and  yet  not  to  touch  it  ?  Verses  18,  19 
are  very  clear  upon  this  point : — 

“  And  ye,  in  any  wise  keep  3rourselves  from  the  accursed  thing,  lest  ye 
make  yourselves  accursed,  when  ye  take  of  the  accursed  thing,  and  make  the 
camp  of  Israel  a  curse,  and  trouble  it.  But  all  the  silver,  and  gold,  and 
vessels  of  brass  and  iron,  are  consecrated  unto  the  Lord  :  they  shall  come 
into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord.” 

This  is  the  continual  difficulty  of  life.  To  walk  past  bread  that 
we  could  eat,  and  that  we  feel  we  need,  and  yet  to  say,  We  must 
not  touch  it,  is  a  lesson  not  learned  easily.  Are  we  not  all 
exposed  to  this  very  trial  ?  Things  we  want  lie  so  near.  But 
a  pane  of  glass  between  the  needy  man  and  the  thing  which  is 
coveted  !  Mine  and  thine  touch  one  another ;  which  is  mine  ? — 
which  is  thine  ?  To  keep  men  back  from  things  which  they 
could  so  easily  use  and  so  naturally  appropriate,  and  to  remain 
in  comparative  poverty  in  the  very  midst  of  abundance,  is  not 
easy.  It  cannot  be  a  pleasant  thing  for  the  man  who  has  not 
one  foot  of  soil  to  be  passing  over  acres  to  which  he  can  lay  no 
claim,  and  to  be  begging  a  brother  of  the  earth  to  “  give  him  leave 
to  toil,”  and  for  that  brother  to  dismiss  his  petition  with  a  sneer* 
It  is  at  this  point  that  our  quality  is  tested.  When  we  do  not 
want  the  things,  it  is  no  trouble  to  let  them  alone ;  but  when  they 
are  round  about  us,  urging  themselves  upon  us,  and  are  almost 
clamorous  in  their  appeal  that  we  should  appropriate  them  ; 
to  stand  in  their  presence  as  with  folded  arms,  and  look  upon 
them,  not  with  contempt,  but  with  a  judgment  that  values  them, 
yet  with  a  conscience  that  will  not  appropriate  them,  is  an 
attainment  in  religious  manhood  which  we  must  not  expect  to 
secure  without  long  training.  This  is  part  of  the  mystery  of 
Providence.  It  enters  into  the  whole  history  of  human  life. 
The  person  next  door  to  you  has  all  you  want — but  he  is  next 
door ;  and  a  deal  partition  an  inch  thick  is  an  infinite  separation 
where  morality  is  concerned.  What  relates  to  property,  relates 
to  pleasure,  enjoyment,  gratification, — everything.  When  soldiers 


Josh.  vi.  io  ] 


DISCIPLINE. 


151 


enter  the  city,  and  have  the  whole  place  at  their  command,  and 
yet  behave  themselves  like  honest  men,  they  are  greater  soldiers 
in  their  abstinence  than  they  were  in  their  successful  assault. 
Here  it  is  that  character  discovers  its  quality.  We  are  in  reality 
what  we  are  in  critical  circumstances.  It  is  the  exceptional 
hour  that  is  the  key  to  the  lifetime.  “  Let  him  that  thinketh  he 
standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.”  We  may  be  good  in  ninety-nine 
points  in  the  hundred,  but  it  is  the  hundredth  point  that  tests 
the  quality  of  the  whole  man.  Herein  we  should  be  gracious 
and  charitable  in  mutual  judgment.  Men  “compound  for  sins 
they  are  inclined  to,  by  damning  things  they  have  no  mind  to,” 
we  know  well.  It  is  easy  religion  ;  it  is  a  game  that  needs  no 
learning :  the  small  skill  of  it  seems  to  be  born  with  us.  When 
we  see  men  falling  before  great  temptations,  we  should  sometimes 
reflect  that  they  would  not  be  temptations  to  us,  and  that  there¬ 
fore  our  virtue  in  their  presence  adds  but  another  layer  to  the 
thick  hypocrisy  under  which  we  conceal  our  real  character.  It 
may  be  better  in  some  circumstances  to  be  poor  than  to  be 
rich ;  the  wealth  may  be  with  poverty,  and  the  poverty  may 
be  with  wealth.  There  is  a  law  of  “  Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle 
not,”  and  in  the  not  doing  of  some  things,  we  do  other  things 
most  worthily.  Nor  must  any  man  take  comfort  from  this.  Who 
can  boast  that  he  does  not  care  about  things  that  partake  of  the 
nature  of  property  and  dignity,  ease  and  honour  ?  The  careless 
man  has  no  right  to  any  comfort  derived  from  this  doctrine, 
but  the  man  who  is  pressed  by  the  fiend  of  covetousness,  the 
man  who  is  poisoned  by  the  virus  of  that  bite,  the  man  who 
says  in  his  soul,  “  I  want  it :  I  am  almost  afraid  to  be  in  its 
presence  for  fear  I  should  seize  it ;  God  keep  my  fingers  off  it ! 
God  pity  me  !  God  save  me  !  ” — is  the  man  who  in  his  weakness 
is  really  strong  ;  he  has  right  to  this  comfort ;  abstention  in  his 
case  is  positive  virtue ;  not  to  do,  is  to  do.  May  God  comfort 
him,  and  beat  back  the  pursuing  fiend,  and  give  his  child  rest 
from  torment ! 

Is  it  not  in  the  nature  of  discipline  to  be  in  great  excitement, 
and  yet  not  to  express  it?  Read  verse  10  : — 

“And  Joshua  had  commanded  the  people,  saying,  Ye  shall  not  shout,  nor 
make  any  noise  with  your  voice,  neither  shall  any  word  proceed  out  of  yom 
mouth,  until  the  day  I  bid  you  shout;  then  shall  ye  shout.” 


152 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh,  vi,  io. 


The  instruction  seems  easy.  Obedience  under  such  circumstances 
would  be  most  difficult.  Who  can  keep  down  excitement — 
honest  and  honourable  excitement  ?  Who  can  say  to  his  very 
voice,  Be  still  ?  To  shout  under  such  circumstances  as  are 
described  in  the  text  is  natural.  We  must  not  drag  nature  into 
the  witness-box  to  testify  for  us  when  we  are  committing  outrages 
upon  her.  People  suppose  that  if  a  thing  is  natural,  it  is  proper. 
It  is  proper  under  some  circumstances,  but  we  must  have  critical 
regard  to  those  circumstances,  because  even  nature  may  be 
outraged.  Inborn  instincts  may  be  profaned,  and  the  very  voice 
of  God  within  the  soul  may  be  mistaken,  or  have  its  touch 
perverted.  Progress  is  kept  back  by  shouting  men.  The  whole 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  hindered  in  some  instances  because  people 
will  not  hold  their  tongues.  They  are  people  who  see  a  little 
part  of  a  case,  and  rush  out  into  the  war  as  if  they  were 
fully-equipped  soldiers ;  they  are  excitable,  vehement,  quick ; 
they  call  themselves  sensitive,  but  they  are  extremely  disagree¬ 
able  and  hindersome.  Silence  in  the  midst  of  great  crises  is 
simply  invaluable,  and  there  is  a  silence  which  is  often  misunder¬ 
stood  and  attributed  to  timidity.  People  will  say  to  public  men, 
Why  do  you  not  speak  on  such  and  such  subjects  ?  The  persons 
making  the  inquiry  would  speak  !  Of  that  we  have  no  doubt ! 
There  is  a  time  for  silence.  Then  there  is  a  speaking  which 
really  expresses  silence.  That  may  appear  to  be  paradoxical, 
but  we  know  it  to  be  true.  A  man  has  spoken  an  hour,  and 
yet  he  has  in  that  one  hour  only  shown  how  much  more  he 
could  have  said  but  for  self-control,  for  regard  of  broader,  deeper 
interests  than  are  apparent  to  many  who  look  on.  We  cannot 
have  two  captains  in  the  army.  There  can  only  be  one  leader, 
if  the  discipline  is  to  be  complete,  if  the  organisation  is  to  move 
with  the  effect  and  precision  of  one  soul.  God  knows  when  his 
children  should  shout,  speak,  pray,  work ;  the  distribution  of 
parts,  functions,  duties,  is  with  God.  The  one  thing  every 
Christian  man  has  to  do,  is  to  say,  Lord,  I  am  in  thine  hands  : 
make  me  a  hewer  of  wood,  drawer  of  water,  captain,  lowest  man 
in  the  whole  army ;  I  have  no  voice  in  the  matter,  no  wish  ;  thy 
will,  my  God,  thy  will  be  done. 

Here  we  clearly  see  that  much  detail  must  go  before  great 
results.  The  men  must  go  out  one  day,  and  another  day,  and 


Josh.  vi.  15,  16.] 


DISCIPLINE. 


153 


even  to  six  days,  and  on  the  seventh  day  rising  early,  “  about  the 
dawning  of  the  day.”  Their  impatience  seems  to  betray  itself  a 
little.  Things  cannot  go  beyond  the  “seventh”  day.  There  is 
no  mention  made  of  an  eighth  day.  “  Three  days  ” — there  may 
be  a  resurrection  :  “  seven  days  ” — Sabbath  !  Now  the  “  seventh 
day  ”  has  come,  and  some  very  early  risers  are  abroad.  There  is 
a  faint  whitening  in  the  far  east :  the  full  day  is  coming : — 

“And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  seventh  day,  that  they  rose  early  about  the 
dawning  of  the  day,  and  compassed  the  city  after  the  same  manner  seven 
times  :  only  on  that  day  they  compassed  the  city  seven  times.  And  it  came 
to  pass  at  the  seventh  time,  when  the  priests  blew  with  the  trumpets, 
Joshua  said  unto  the  people,  Shout;  for  the  Lord  hath  given  you  the  city  ” 
(vv.  15,  16). 

The  order  came  and  could  not  be  mistaken.  A  soldier’s  blood 
was  in  its  sacred  fury.  The  critical  moment  had  come,  and  Jericho 
must  fall.  So  it  shall  be  with  all  corruptions,  all  doomed  institu¬ 
tions,  all  unholy  adventures  and  enterprises,  all  causes  that  may 
have  been  useful  in  their  day,  but  whose  day  is  at  an  end  ;  there 
must  be  walking  round  about  them  by  armed  men  who  will  not 
use  their  weapons ;  there  may  be  great  excitement,  but  the  very 
greatness  of  it  necessitates  its  repression ;  there  may  be  great  loot 
and  bounty,  and  much  that  might  be  appropriated,  but  it  must  be 
left  for  divine  appropriation  or  divine  distribution.  It  is  not  for 
us  to  take  this  work  out  of  the  Lord’s  hand.  Be  patient  in  the 
detail.  It  seems  a  long  time  since  we  began  going  round  this 
awful  hell.  It  seems  to  be  encroaching  upon  us,  rather  than  we 
seem  to  be  encroaching  upon  its  heat.  Travel  on  !  It  is  the  fifth 
day ;  to-morrow  is  the  sixth  day  ;  the  day  after  is  the  seventh 
day.  “The  Lord  shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple.”  “I  beheld 
Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven.”  How  quickly  he  falls  ! 
How  useless  is  arithmetic  in  the  computation  of  that  velocity  ! 
What  we  have  to  do,  is  to  hold  on  in  prayer,  keep  to  duty,  and  be 
Christ-like.  As  for  the  violent  man  :  Put  up  thy  sword  into  its 
sheath  ;  we  do  not  want  such  rude  assistance  as  thine.  As  for 
those  who  are  in  great  excitement,  appear  not  unto  men  to 
fast ;  hide  your  turbulence  in  your  heart ;  be  cool  in  the  very 
midst  of  tremendous  excitement  of  soul ;  anoint  thine  head  and 
wash  thy  face,  that  thou  appear  not  unto  men  to  be  excited.  Let 
it  be  a  religious  excitement,  a  chastened  excitement,  an  excitement 


154 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  vi.  15, 16. 


not  inspired  by  selfishness  or  the  realisation  of  individual  imagi¬ 
nations  and  proposals,  but  sweet,  yet  glowing,  acquiescence  in 
the  divine  will,  the  infinite  purpose  that  broods  over  the  ages 
and  makes  them  in  the  end  what  it  will.  As  for  those  who  are 
longing  for  plunder,  and  booty,  and  prize  :  Seek  first  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  forsake  the  contemplated  spoil. 
Better  be  righteous  than  be  rich ;  better  be  morally  noble  than 
surrounded  by  things  which  were  confiscated,  and  which  you 
never  worked  for.  But  who  can  do  the  will  of  Christ  ?  Who 
can  put  up  his  sword  into  its  sheath  ?  Who  can  refrain  from 
appearing  unto  men  to  fast  when  the  hunger  is  biting  the  very 
soul  ?  Who  can  seek  first  the  invisible,  the  impalpable,  the 
infinite,  when  things  concrete  are  lying  close  at  hand  ?  “  Who  is 

sufficient  for  these  things  ?  ”  This  man, — namely,  who  has  the 
Spirit  of  Christ.  Only  he  who  has  the  Spirit  of  Christ  can  do  the 
will  of  Christ.  Such  a  man  is  called  to  the  miracle  of  having 
arms,  and  yet  not  using  them  ;  of  being  in  the  midst  of  plenty, 
and  yet  not  touching  it;  of  being  under  intolerable  excitement, 
and  yet  not  expressing  it.  He  has  the  Spirit  of  Christ  who 
puts  his  sword  into  its  sheath,  saying,  This  is  not  a  battle  of 
steel ;  this  is  not  a  question  of  one  sword  against  another  ;  it  is  a 
question  of  eternal  decree,  divine  righteousness,  ineffable  morality  ; 
it  must  be  left  to  the  decision  of  God.  Blessed  be  Heaven,  a 
“  seventh  day  ”  is  promised  !  It  will  not  all  be  walking,  waiting, 
toiling,  suffering — only  for  a  little  while,  quite  a  little  space  of 
time ;  it  will  appear  to  be  as  nothing  when  it  is  all  over,  and  the 
kingdom  of  God  has  come  in  all  its  white  radiance  and  glowing 
summer.  We  shall  forget  the  night  in  the  joy  of  the  morning, 
the  cold  seed-time  in  the  joy  of  the  harvest.  Blessed  Messiah, 
thou  shalt  reign  !  Thou  shalt  have  the  heathen  for  an  inheritance 
and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a  possession ;  kings  shall 
bow  down  before  thee,  and  gold  and  incense  bring.  In  our 
impatience  we  say,  Even  so,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly.  Forgive 
the  word  quickly !  We  have  no  ill-meaning  in  it ;  it  expresses 
our  impatience :  we  pray  that  our  impatience  may  never  be  used 
as  a  weapon  with  which  to  attack  the  solidity  of  thy  throne  and 
the  beneficence  of  thy  purpose. 


PRAYER. 


We  have  come  to  hear  thy  voice,  O  thou  Saviour  of  the  world  1  Thou  art 
full  of  compassion.  We  live  upon  thy  mercy,  and  therefore  we  are  the  wit¬ 
nesses  of  thy  love.  Jesus  wept !  Thou  hast  sanctified  the  tears  of  sorrow, 
and  made  sorrow  itself  a  piety  by  thy  shedding  of  sympathetic  tears.  Thou 
art  always  compassionating  us.  Thou  dost  not  burn  with  anger  against  human 
weakness  or  human  want ;  thou  dost  burn  with  anger  only  against  human 
sin;  and  dost  thou  not  treat  human  sin  as  it  was  never  treated  before? 
Dost  thou  not  go  far  back  into  things,  and  show  us  darkness  centuries  old, 
and  wickedness  nearly  as  old  as  time  ?  And  dost  thou  not  trace  the 
progress  of  evil,  and  point  out  to  us  somewhat  of  the  mystery  of  guilt?  We 
are  not  individuals ;  we  are  links  in  a  long  chain.  No  man  liveth  unto 
himself;  no  man  is  himself  alone  :  he  is  his  father  and  his  mother ;  he  is  in 
one  life  all  the  lives  that  went  before  him.  Herein  is  mystery ;  herein  is 
sorrow;  herein  is  sin  manifold  and  aggravated.  We  know  not  what  to  say. 
We  ourselves  are  double  men  :  when  we  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  us ; 
the  spirit  says  yes  to  God,  and  the  flesh  says  no.  Sometimes  we  wonder 
which  answer  will  be  uppermost  at  the  last !  The  Lord  help  us,  sending  us 
strength  daily  from  his  sanctuary,  and  comforting  us  as  he  alone  can  comfort 
the  struggling  and  weary  sons  of  men.  We  bless  thee  for  the  ends  we  see, 
as  well  as  for  the  beginnings  we  enjoy.  We  should  be  killed  by  an  infinite 
monotony ;  but  thou  hast  made  the  morning  a  beginning  and  the  night  a 
close,  and  by  this  symbol  thou  hast  marked  off  all  time  and  all  the  ways  of 
men,  so  that  no  man  knoweth  even  the  day  of  his  birth  or  the  day  of  his 
death  :  he  can  but  say,  Born — died  ;  and  between  these  two  points,  what 
tumult  urges  itself,  what  sin  defiles  the  little  space,  what  prayer  seeks  to 
redeem  it,  and  what  divine  love  seeks  to  turn  it  into  spiritual  fruitfulness! 
Behold,  we  find  ourselves  pressed  upon  by  mysteries,  mocked  by  spectres, 
pursued  by  enemies ;  and  yet,  amid  all  this  uproar  and  assault,  we  find  the 
altar,  the  revelation  of  heaven,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Cross  of  Christ.  Help  us 
to  be  patient,  careful,  reverent;  keep  us  steadfast  in  all  holy  faith,  and  may 
we  cling  to  that  which  is  good,  that,  having  such  in  our  hands,  the  rest  will 
come,  or  such  revelations  will  be  granted  as  will  cheer  the  desponding  life. 
Thou  hast  appointed  men  to  places  as  thou  wilt ;  so  far,  all  is  good,  for  thou 
knowest  what  space  each  spirit  wants,  and  what  room  each  life  can  take  up. 
But  some  men  have  appointed  themselves  to  their  own  places,  and  brought 
disorder  into  the  great  social  poem.  Thou  dost  not  crush  their  self-will  and 
greed  by  violence,  thou  dost  rather  train  men  by  long  processes,  show¬ 
ing  light  in  new  directions,  sending  deliverers  from  unexpected  quarters,  so 
that  shepherds  become  captains,  and  mean  men  lead  the  army,  and  those 


156 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  vii. 


who  were  not  known  stand  up  in  the  infinite  fame  of  manhood.  We  will  put 
everything  into  thine  hands ;  we  will  do  nothing  of  ourselves  ;  we  will  await 
the  voice  within,  the  light  of  the  soul,  the  face  at  heaven’s  window  beckoning 
us  to  further  progress  and  service.  We  will  talk  of  our  sins  to  ourselves, 
and  we  only  name  them  to  thee  that  they  may  be  destroyed  in  the  con¬ 
fession  :  for  Jesus  Christ  hath  tasted  death  for  every  man.  Help  us  to  seize 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ ;  give  us  clearness  of  vision  to  see  horizons  and 
not  the  arbitrary  boundaries  set  up  by  men  ;  give  us  a  clear  view  into 
heaven’s  own  blue  arch,  lest  we  mistake  the  roofs  built  by  human  hands  for 
the  heavens  of  God.  The  Lord  grant  unto  us  the  quietness  of  heart  which 
is  essential  to  true  education,  the  comfort  of  soul  which  enables  the  spirit  to 
seize  the  prizes  of  God ;  and  thus  may  we  grow  in  grace  and  in  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  without  knowing  it  of  ourselves,  as  a 
merit  due  to  ourselves,  may  we  come  into  a  great  estate  of  wisdom  and 
power.  Be  with  all  our  loved  ones  who  cannot  be  with  us  in  the  public 
#  sanctuary ;  they  are  with  us  in  sympathy,  in  eager  wonder  as  to  what  we 
are  doing ;  they  think  they  know  the  time  of  the  song  and  of  the  prayer,  of 
the  sweet  reading  and  the  speech  to  the  minds  and  souls  of  men;  and  they 
accompany  us  along  the  living  line  ;  the  Lord  give  them  comfort  in  solitude, 
hope  in  darkness,  and  a  healing  of  soul  in  the  time  of  bodily  frailty.  The 
Lord  look  upon  the  little  child  as  if  there  were  but  one  in  all  the  universe, 
and  so  pet  him  with  infinite  love  as  to  make  him  strong  and  wise.  The 
Lord  save  young  life  from  those  who  would  devour  it ;  the  Lord  save  it  from 
the  jaws  of  hell.  Help  us  to  esteem  one  another  very  highly  in  love  for 
Christ’s  sake — to  live  in  confidence  and  affection,  and  in  such  union  as  will 
make  the  weakest  feel  that  he  enjoys  the  protection  of  the  whole.  God  be 
merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  us,  and  cause  his  face  to  shine  upon  us;  and  in 
the  shining  of  that  look  we  shall  forget  the  sun.  Amen 


Joshua  vii. 

HINDERED  BY  SIN. 


AS  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  unexplained  checks  in  human 
progress.  We  wonder  why  we  do  not  advance  more 
surely  and  quickly.  Mystery  comes  upon  us  in  great  clouds. 
Every  appointment  is  right,  the  direction  unquestionably  true, 
and  all  the  conditions  seem  to  be  as  they  ought  to  be ;  but 
somehow  there  is  an  invisible  wall  through  which  we  cannot 
pass,  and  over  which  we  cannot  climb  :  so  progress  comes  to  a 
standstill.  Men  are  troubled,  and  can  give  no  reason  for  their 
sorrow ;  they  feel  that  they  ought  to  be  advancing,  and  yet 
progress  is  impossible.  It  is  so  in  business.  For  months 
together  the  business  goes  swingingly ;  customers  throng  the 
threshold ;  everything  that  is  done  bears  upon  it  the  sign  of 
prosperity.  It  was  so  easily  done,  that  business  became  a  kind 


Josh.  vii.  6-9.] 


I-IINDERED  BY  SIN. 


157 


of  play.  Suddenly  there  is  a  dead  stop  in  the  machine.  How 
is  it  to  be  accounted  for  ?  It  cannot  be  accounted  for  at  first 
sight.  What  a  wonderful  change  has  taken  place  ! — everything 
has  fallen  off.  The  sun  used  to  blister  the  windows  with  light, 
and  now  for  days  together  not  a  gleam  is  seen.  It  is  so  in 
social  honour.  Men  used  to  be  able  to  go  up  and  down  social 
lines  amid  applause,  and  cordial  recognition,  and  every  symptom 
of  genuine  friendliness.  What  a  change  has  taken  place  !  Men 
look  coldly  ;  the  very  exchange  of  civilities  is  sobered  down 
to  the  lowest  possible  point.  No  open  fault  can  be  found 
with  anything,  but  still  there  is  the  fact  that  a  change  of 
social  atmosphere  has  taken  place  ;  the  climate  is  by  no  means 
so  warm  as  it  used  to  be ;  and  men  who  had  but  a  step  to 
take  to  the  very  throne  are  unable  to  move  a  limb  in  the 
direction  indicated  by  their  ambition.  It  is  also  the  same  even 
in  lawful  enterprise.  The  business  is  morally  sound,  thoroughly 
respectable,  honourable,  useful ;  and  yet  it  brings  in  no  return  : 
the  principal  is  disheartened,  the  followers  are  all  cowed,  the 
whole  organisation  is  out  of  gear  and  will  not  respond  to  the 
friendliest  touch  ;  the  enterprise  is  practically  dead.  These  are 
not  matters  of  ancient  history ;  they  are  matters  of  modern 
and  immediate  experience. 

Such  checks  bring  divine  providence  under  criticism  and 
suspicion.  Even  Joshua,  hearing  of  the  defeat  of  his  people, 
“  rent  his  clothes,  and  fell  to  the  earth  upon  his  face  before 
the  ark  of  the  Lord  until  the  eventide,  he  and  the  elders  of 
Israel,  and  put  dust  upon  their  heads,’’  and  complained  heavily 
against  God  (verses  6-9).  This  is  an  easy  refuge  for  men. 
Providence  has  had  to  sustain  many  a  slander.  It  seems  the 
handiest  of  all  things  to  blame  the  mysteriousness  of  the  divine 
way.  Who  ever  says,  “The  fault  must  be  within  the  house 
itself ;  let  every  man  in  the  house  be  examined,  right  away 
down  to  the  youngest  child  in  the  whole  home;  somebody  is 
to  blame  for  this  mystery — who  is  it  ?  By  inquiry,  or  by  lot, 
or  by  some  exhaustive  process,  let  us  find  out  the  criminal  and 
exculpate  eternal  Providence  ”  ?  But  it  is  easier  to  sit  down 
under  the  supposedly  comforting  doctrine  that  all  this  is  meant 
for  our  good  ;  it  is  chastisement ;  it  is  part  of  the  mysterious 
process  of  human  education ;  it  is  God  who  arbitrarily  says  to 


158 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  vii.  6-9. 


gold,  Do  not  enter  that  house;  to  friends,  Do  not  be  so  cordial 
to-day  as  you  were  yesterday ;  to  lawful  enterprise,  Sit  down, 
and  terminate  your  progress  disappointingly.  That  would  be 
religious,  if  it  were  true ;  but  whatever  truth  there  may  be 
in  the  mysteriousness  of  the  divine  action — and  undoubtedly 
there  is  truth  in  it — we  must  not  imagine  that  we  ourselves 
are  poor,  innocent,  guileless  creatures  who  have  done  nothing  to 
deserve  the  cloud  or  the  famine.  At  the  same  time  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  sufferer  himself  may  not  be  personally 
guilty.  Certainly  Joshua  was  no  criminal  in  this  case ;  yet 
Joshua  suffered  more  than  any  other  man.  Here  we  may  find 
the  mysteriousness  of  the  divine  action.  Joshua  had  a  larger 
capacity  for  suffering ;  he  was  spiritually  sensitive,  he  was 
intimately  allied  with  God,  he  felt  as  if  he  were  representing 
the  divinity  of  heaven  to  the  heathen  nations  of  his  time ;  and 
that  which  others  might  hardly  feel,  would  penetrate  to  his 
very  soul,  and  throw  a  shadow  upon  the  altar  of  his  life.  We 
suffer  indirectly,  yet  not  always  so  indirectly  as  we  suppose. 
What  is  “indirectness”  in  this  matter  of  suffering?  Who  can 
occupy  an  indirect  relation  to  the  human  race  ?  Again  and  again 
we  are  taught  how  true  it  is  that  we  are  one.  Humanity  is 
not  a  concourse  of  individual  atoms ;  there  is  a  solidarity  of 
humanity — a  holy  and  indissoluble  unity  :  whether  one  member 
suffer,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it.  This  is  the  doctrine 
which  has  yet  to  be  realised  on  the  largest  possible  scale ; 
and  not  until  this  doctrine  is  recognised  shall  we  have  the 
great  problem  of  social  inequality  and  hostility,  struggle  and 
suffering,  permanently  adjusted  and  determined.  Human  nature 
was  never  intended  by  its  Creator  to  represent  a  battle  as 
between  the  strong  and  the  weak ;  humanity  was  meant  to  be 
a  great  commonwealth,  a  great  family,  a  whole  commune — not 
in  some  vulgar  and  debasing  or  selfish  sense  which  may  have 

been  conceived  here  and  there,  but  on  a  scale  and  according 

»  * 

to  an  inspiration  truly  and  eternally  divine.  The  leader  was 
hindered  by  the  follower  ;  in  other  words,  Joshua  was  kept 
back  by  Achan — a  man  whose  name  had  to  be  sought  out ; 
reference  had  to  be  made  to  the  register  to  find  who  the  man 
was,  and  not  until  after  considerable  searching  was  it  found 
that  he  was  “  Achan,  the  son  of  Carmi,  the  son  of  Zabdi,  the 


Josh.  vii.  12.] 


HINDERED  BY  SIN. 


J59 


son  of  Zerah,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.”  Our  hindrances  are  often 
in  obscurity,  among  the  shadows  of  the  hardly-remembered 
past.  In  every  sense  is  this  true.  Many  an  appetite  for 
which  we  are  blamed  was  set  burning  within  us  by  a  man 
who  has  been  dead  five  hundred  years.  We  must  view  this 
whole  subject  therefore  in  high  light  and  within  broad  spaces. 
Christ  is  hindered  by  his  followers.  The  Son  of  God  is  kept 
back  by  some  criminal  unknown  to  fame.  That  criminal  mis¬ 
represents  Christ,  travesties  the  holy  character,  plays  impiously 
with  the  ineffable  morality  ;  and  thus  Christ  in  the  very  heavens 
is  kept  out  of  his  throne  by  men  who  have  no  name,  by  obscure 
Achans,  by  sinners  who  within  their  own  circle  are  exposing  the 
Saviour  to  continual  shame. 

What,  then,  was  to  be  done  ?  Divine  partiality  was  to  be 
shown.  Here  comes  a  great  problem  in  theology,  What  direction 
does  the  partiality  of  God  always  take  ?  The  doctrine  is  that 
the  partiality  of  God  is  not  for  persons,  but  for  character. 
“Therefore,”  reads  the  twelfth  verse,  which  sums  up  the  logic 
of  the  divine  argument : — 

“  Therefore  the  children  of  Israel  could  not  stand  before  their  enemies, 
but  turned  their  backs  before  their  enemies,  because  they  were  accursed  : 
neither  will  I  be  with  you  any  more,  except  ye  destroy  the  accursed  from 
among  you.” 

This  is  righteous  partiality.  We  must  universally  approve  it. 
We  are  not  affronted  by  this  partiality  as  if  it  were  arbitrary — the 
mere  action  of  spiritual  taste  directed  to  a  discrimination  of 
persons  on  account  of  some  incidental  feature  or  hue  of  colour. 
The  universe,  hearing  this  judgment,  must  say,  Content.  This  is 
necessary  partiality,  as  well  as  righteous.  The  necessity  comes 
out  of  the  nature  of  God  :  the  holy  One  will  not  identify  himself 
with  unholy  people  and  unholy  purposes.  This  is  not  an  action 
of  mere  virtue,  as  it  is  socially  understood  and  limited ;  it  is  the 
very  necessity  of  God:  he  cannot  touch  “the  accursed  thing;” 
he  cannot  smile  upon  fraud  ;  he  will  not  even  audit  the  books 
which  are  written  by  a  thievish  hand  ;  he  will  only  burn  them 
with  unquenchable  fire.  Having  confidence  in  God,  we  are  at 
peace.  The  army  does  not  move  because  of  human  inspiration 
or  military  ambition  :  the  army  moves  because  God  reigns,  and 
God  knows  every  soldier  and  the  action  of  the  whole  army,  and 


i6o 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  vii.  14. 


from  the  heavens  he  troubles  the  earth  when  anything  occurs  that 
offends  his  purity.  O,  thou  little,  sin-loving  earth  !  God’s  eye  is 
upon  thee,  and  he  will  pain  thee,  and  vex  thee,  and  hinder  thee, 
until  exasperation  becomes  agony,  unless  thou  repent  and  for¬ 
sake  thy  sins. 

A  new  light  is  thus  thrown  upon  sovereignty  and  God’s  elective 
laws.  God  elects  righteousness,  pureness,  simplicity,  nobleness. 
He  will  forsake  Israel,  if  Israel  forsake  him.  He  will  tear  the 
covenant  into  pieces,  and  put  the  rags  of  it  into  heathen  hands, 
that  pagans  may  laugh  at  Israel  dispossessed,  rather  than 
associate  himself  with  a  mere  name,  or  carry  out  any  covenant 
that  is  supposed  to  be  conventionally  binding.  There  is  nothing 
binding  upon  God  but  character.  Love  God,  and  all  the  rest 
will  follow ;  and  by  u  the  rest,”  we  mean  beauty  of  character, 
sweetness  of  soul,  nobleness  of  conduct.  The  Lord  gives  the 
reason  why  we  are  stopped.  We  must  go  to  Heaven  to  find  out 
why  we  are  not  making  more  money,  more  progress,  more 
solidity  of  position.  We  must  ask  heaven  to  explain  how  it  is 
that  it  is  not  with  us  as  it  used  to  be  in  the  olden  time — the 
sweet,  bright  days  of  old,  when  roses  sprang  up  in  our  foot¬ 
prints,  and  when  rivers  of  water  refreshed  the  desert ;  days 
when,  before  we  began  to  pray  in  words,  we  had  the  answer 
stored  in  our  hearts  ;  brave  days  of  old,  memorable  days  of  the 
Son  of  man  upon  the  earth — Sabbath  days.  So  rigid  inquiry 
must  be  made  into  the  cause  or  origin  of  failure. 

Joshua,  accepting  the  divine  direction,  arranged  for  this 
inquiry  : — 

“  In  the  morning  therefore  ye  shall  be  brought  according  to  your  tribes  : 
[in  the  morning  of  scrutiny,  that  long-delayed  day,  to-morrow  morning] 
and  it  shall  be,  that  the  tribe  which  the  Lord  taketh  shall  come  according 
to  the  families  thereof ;  and  the  family  which  the  Lord  shall  take  shall  come 
by  households ;  and  the  household  which  the  Lord  shall  take  shall  come 
man  by  man”  (v.  14). 

We  must  not  attempt  to  teach  the  Lord  how  to  scrutinise. 
All  our  examinations  and  inquests  are  modelled  upon  divine  lines. 
There  can  be  no  escape.  Whilst  the  whole  tribe  is  in  judgment, 
we  may  hope  not  to  be  detected  ;  whilst  the  household  is  all  there, 
we  may  think  one  will  be  nothing  in  a  multitude  :  but  when  it 
comes  to  a  question  of  u  man  by  man.”  the  quarters  are  very 


Josh.  vii.  14.] 


HINDERED  BY  SIN. 


161 


close,  and  the  result  is  inevitable.  Why  should  we  not  anticipate 
the  divine  judgment  by  a  sober  and  faithful  judgment  of  our 
own?  We  can  begin  the  scrutiny.  We  can  write  out  a  list  of 
questions  by  which  to  cross-examine  ourselves.  Our  eloquence 
would  be  punctuated  by  many  an  accusation.  The  questions 
would  become  spears  ;  the  words  would  be  sharp  as  darts  that 
strike  through  the  liver.  Have  I  broken  a  vow  ?  My  arm,  once 
so  strong,  can  hardly  extend  itself  so  as  to  allow  its  shadow  to 
be  thrown.  Why  ?  I  have  not  violated  any  laws  of  health,  yet 
my  very  muscle  is  flaccid  and  the  bones  are  melted.  Have  I 
broken  a  vow  ?  Let  me  read  the  past  I  will  remind  myself 
of  myself.  Have  all  the  lines  been  carried  out  ?  Who  can  stand 
before  the  burning  question  ?  Dare  I  then  lift  a  face  of  simulated 
innocence  to  heaven  and  say,  This  is  thy  rod,  this  is  thy  chastise¬ 
ment,  this  is  thy  doing,  O  God  of  the  universe,  and  I  must  bear 
thy  discipline  as  best  thy  grace  may  sustain  me  ?  That  would 
be  hypocrisy.  Better  keep  to  the  truth  known  by  the  conscious^- 
ness  within.  Have  I  kept  back  part  of  the  price  ?  It  is  so  hard 
to  give  the  whole, — can  I  not  be  let  off  by  giving,  say,  most  of 
what  I  soid  the  land  for  ?  To  a  certain  extent  I  may,  if  I  say 
it  is  only  so  much  and  only  a  large  proportion.  But  have  I  not 
given  it  as  if  I  were  giving  it  all  ?  If  so,  I  must  not  turn  eyes 
to  heaven  that  counterfeit  the  aspect  of  injured  innocence  or 
delayed  and  affrighted  righteousness.  The  money  that  I  have 
kept  back  will  burn  my  hand,  and  the  seething  of  the  blood  shall 
be  heard  as  an  accusation  against  me.  w  When  thou  vowest  a 
vow  unto  the  Lord,  defer  not  to  pay  it.”  Have  I  fallen  before  a 
lower  motive  ?  Once  the  motive  approached  purity  :  the  thought 
was  good,  the  intention  was  healthy ;  there  was  a  genuineness 
about  the  whole  action  of  the  soul  that  almost  challenged  scrutiny 
and  criticism.  Has  the  motive  changed  ?  If  the  spiritual  motive 
has  changed,  the  spiritual  ambition  has  gone  down  along  with  it, 
and  the  whole  quality  of  the  life-work  partakes  of  the  deterioration. 
When  a  man  searches  himself  with  questions  in  this  way,  he 
renders  unnecessary  the  formal  judgment  of  God,  as  if  that  judg¬ 
ment  were  required  to  dissolve  a  mystery.  Let  a  man  examine 
himself.  Let  every  one  be  unsparing  with  his  own  life.  When  a 
man  tells  lies  to  himself,  he  cannot  speak  the  truth  to  anybody 
else.  There  must  be  scrutiny  and  there  must  be  penalty. 

VOL.  v. 


11 


l6  2 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  vii.  24-26. 


Achan  was  detected.  Achan  told  the  tale  of  fraud,  and  Joshua 
executed  the  judgment  of  Heaven.  In  those  days  the  law  main¬ 
tained  its  sovereignty.  Joshua  himself  would  have  been  ground 
to  pieces  by  it  as  certainly  as  the  obscurest  man  in  all  the  host. 
u  God  spared  not  the  angels  that  sinned.”  He  would  grind  the 
stars  to  powder,  were  they  conscious,  and  did  they  sin  against 
his  throne.  Not  a  planet  but  God  can  spare,  if  the  planet  has 
stained  the  universe.  Do  not  imagine  that  men  are  held  up 
because  they  are  great,  distinguished,  sons  of  the  morning,  and 
have  high  social  stewardship  to  maintain  and  justify.  Be  the 
man  who  he  may,  he  goes  down  before  the  divine  judgment. 
Achan,  the  son  of  Zerah,  was  taken,  “  and  the  silver,  and  the 
garment,  and  the  wedge  of  gold,  and  his  sons,  and  his  daughters, 
and  his  oxen,  and  his  asses,  and  his  sheep,  and  his  tent,  and  all 
that  he  had,”  and  judgment  fell  upon  him  :  u  all  Israel  stoned 
him  with  stones,  and  burned  them  with  fire  .  .  .  and  they  raised 
over  him  a  great  heap  of  stones  unto  this  day  ”  (vv.  24-26). 
There  is  no  heap  big  enough  to  hide  the  hinderer  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God  !  Sin  is  not  to  be  apologised  for,  excused,  compro¬ 
mised,  allowed  for  ;  it  must  be  extirpated,  dragged  out — every  root 
and  fibre ;  and  not  until  that  eradication  has  been  completed 
can  the  kingdom  go  on,  fair  as  the  heavenly  lights  and  terrible 
as  a  bannered  army. 


V 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  thou  hast  set  the  day  and  the  night  closely  together ;  the 
summer  and  the  winter  follow  quickly.  Behold,  thou  art  always  teaching 
us  by  things  which  differ  from  one’ another,  so  that  by  their  contrast  we  may  be 
brought  to  thoughtfulness  and  religious  wonder.  Life  and  death  seem  to  go 
hand  in  hand  :  the  tomb  is  in  the  garden.  We  are  shocked  by  these  con¬ 
junctions;  we  do  not  understand  these  contrasts:  but  thou  wilt  give  unto  us 
wisdom :  then  we  shall  see  all  their  meaning  and  be  thankful  for  their  in¬ 
struction,  and  shall  be  the  better  for  looking  into  things  contrary  to  all 
beauty  and  light  and  loveliness.  What  must  thine  own  eyes  behold  !  We 
ourselves  see  things  so  contrary  to  one  another ;  yet  we  see  hardly  any¬ 
thing  :  what  we  look  at  is  a  transient  vision.  We  do  not  know  what  thou 
seest,  thou  who  knowest  where  the  chamber  of  imagery  is,  thou  who  seest 
all  heaven  and  all  hell.  Enable  us  to  know  that,  notwithstanding  these 
things,  there  is  but  one  throne,  one  Lord,  one  Eternal  Sovereign,  righteous, 
wise,  full  of  compassion,  accepting  the  death  of  the  Cross,  rising  to  the 
throne  of  the  universe.  May  we  fix  our  minds  upon  these  ultimate  truths, 
which  yet  are  first  truths,  embracing  all  other  truths  and  making  life  noble 
even  to  sublimity.  Reign  thou  whose  right  it  is !  reign,  O  Christ,  until 
thine  enemies  are  made  thy  footstool !  Thou  shalt  have  the  heathen  for 
thine  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession. 
We  long  to  behold  the  light  of  that  glad  day.  Others  have  been  yearning  to 
see  it.  If  thou  hast  inflicted  disappointment  upon  the  generations,  it  is 
because  thou  seest  what  they  could  not  behold,  and  understandest  what  was 
beyond  their  comprehension.  We  leave  everything  in  thy  hands :  thou 
knowest  what  is  right  and  best ;  thou  dost  keep  the  time  of  the  universe  ; 
thou  wilt  come  in  thine  own  way  and  at  thine  own  hour,  and  when  we  see 
thy  coming  and  know  thy  presence,  we  shall  bless  thee  even  for  the  delay. 
Let  thy  mercy  multiply  itself  towards  us  :  let  it  be  tender  mercy ;  let  thy 
kindness  be  loving  kindness,  so  that  it  may  not  press  upon  us  unduly,  but 
may  have  sympathy  with  us,  and  patience  with  us,  the  very  mercy  of  mercy, 
the  very  kindness  of  kindness.  Amid  all  visions  show  us  the  blessed  Cross  of 
Christ,  full  of  deepest  meaning,  pregnant  with  infinite  love,  the  very  door  of 
pardon  and  of  heaven.  Amen. 

Joshua  vii. 

CURIOUS  CONJUNCTIONS. 

APART  from  the  main  course  of  this  narrative,  there  are 
some  conjunctions  of  names  which  are  full  of  interest,  and 
full  also  of  spiritual  instruction  and  comfort.  We  have  to  go  in 


164 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  vii.  2. 


search  of  some  beautiful  things  :  they  do  not  always  lie  upon 
the  broad  and  open  surface.  The  loveliest  parts  of  a  country 
are  not  always  seen  by  travellers  who  keep  on  the  highway  : 
they  lie  apart,  they  have  to  be  sought  for ;  there  are  little  dells, 
waterfalls,  tarns,  and  natural  gardens  which  only  the  pedestrian 
can  see,  and  he  only  as  the  result  of  patient  inquiry.  It  is  so 
with  the  Scriptures.  Almost  every  verse  has  its  hidden  jewel. 
We  read  perhaps  too  rapidly,  or  we  have  come  under  the  mis¬ 
chievous  operation  of  a  familiarity  which  supposes  it  knows  all 
about  the  Bible.  “  All  about  the  Bible  ”  it  is  impossible  for  any 
finite  intellect  to  know.  The  deepest  and  most  continuous  readers 
of  the  holy  record  rise  from  their  last  perusal  to  assure  us  that 
they  have  hardly  begun  to  spell  out  the  initial  meaning  of  God’s 
written  revelation. 

What  conjunction,  then,  strikes  us  first  in  reading  this  exciting 
narrative  ?  There  is  a  remarkable  one  in  the  second  verse  : 
— “Joshua  sent  men  from  Jericho  to  Ai  ” — where  is  that? — 
“  which  is  beside  Beth-aven,  on  the  east  side  of  Bethel.”  The 
striking  conjunction  is  in  these  two  names — “  Beth-aven  ”  and 
“  Bethel.”  For  a  long  time  they  were  supposed  to  be  different 
names  of  the  same  place,  but  the  latest  and  highest  authorities 
have  determined  them  to  be  two  distinct  places.  Coming  before 
us  in  these  strange  syllables,  many  may  not  be  able  to  see  the 
contrast  or  feel  its  force.  “  Beth-aven  ”  means,  “  house  of 
vanity,”  “  house  of  idols  ;  ”  “  Bethel  ”  means,  “  house  of  God.” 
Now  read  : — “  Ai,  which  is  beside  Beth-aven,  the  house  of  vanity, 
on  the  east  side  of  Bethel,  the  house  of  God.”  So  -we  find  it  all 
through  life.  Contrarieties  face  us  every  day,  and  make  us  wonder 
why  they  should  be.  It  is  possible  to  draw  two  totally  different 
pictures  of  society,  each  of  which  shall  be  exactly  done,  and 
neither  of  which  shall  represent  the  reality  of  the  whole  case. 
There  are  people  so  constituted  that  they  can  see  but  in  one 
direction  :  they  can  see  only  that  which  is  good  ;  they  multiply 
the  sanctuary  into  a  church  which  covers  the  whole  earth,  and 
they  say,  The  millennium  has  come,  if  not  in  its  fulness  of 
splendour,  yet  in  a  dawn  about  which  there  can  be  no  mistake ; 
they  listen  to  the  reports  of  gracious  charity;  they  hear  the  song 
of  the  worshipping  multitude ;  they  see  what  is  being  done  on 
the  right  hand  and  on  the  left — all  of  which  is  good,  beneficent, 


Josh.vii.  2.]  CURIOUS  CONJUNCTIONS . 


165 

beautiful ;  and  they  say,  looking  at  these  things  alone,  This  is 
the  Sabbath  of  the  world,  the  great  rest-period  of  time  ;  now  is 
the  day  of  God’s  salvation.  There  are  others  who  can  only  see 
the  darkness,  the  misery,  the  sin,  and  the  sorrow — the  fatal 
wound ;  and  they  say,  Churches  have  failed,  ministries  have 
come  to  nothing,  evangels  have  sounded  their  silver  trumpets 
and  delivered  their  sweet  messages,  and  all  their  sounding  has 
died  upon  the  air  and  nothing  is  left  but  emptiness.  Neither 
of  these  statements,  taken  as  a  whole  statement,  is  correct ;  we 
must  put  them  together  if  we  would  really  understand  the  exact 
position  of  the  world.  But  there  are  people  who  will  not  look 
upon  Beth-aven — the  house  of  vanity,  the  house  of  idols.  They 
are  singularly  constituted — at  least,  in  the  sense  that  they  will 
not  look  upon  evil  or  believe  in  its  existence.  When  evil  is 
described,  they  follow  the  description  with  the  criticism  that  it  is 
an  exaggeration.  They  are  hopeful,  buoyant,  generous  them¬ 
selves,  and  most  pure,  and  therefore  they  will  not  believe  in  the 
so-called  revelations  of  the  perdition  of  modern  civilisation. 
There  are  others  who  will  only  look  upon  that  side.  The  point 
to  be  kept  in  view  is  that  there  are  two  sides,  and  they  must 
both  be  looked  at  fearlessly  in  a  spirit  of  righteousness,  with  an 
intention  to  ascertain  the  truth,  abide  by  righteous  consequences, 
and  make  life-long  reparation  for  life-long  unrighteousness.  The 
timid  people  who  will  not  look  upon  Beth-aven  are  often  most 
exasperating.  Nothing  can  persuade  them  to  look  into  certain 
cases :  they  prefer  not  to  be  shocked  ;  they  pass  Beth-aven  in 
haste,  and  speed  to  the  house  of  God.  We  recognise  their 
goodness  in  a  measure,  and  the  sweetness  of  their  disposition 
generally,  but  we  must  not  take  the  key-note  of  progress  and 
administration  from  people  who  are  oppressed  with  such  timidity. 
Beth-aven  exists  in  every  age,  in  every  civilised  land  ;  it  stands 
next  door  to  the  house  of  God,  and  we  must  face  the  fact  and  all 
its  consequences.  Enter  into  what  city  we  may,  there  is  the 
house  of  wealth,  and  there  is  the  hovel  of  poverty  just  behind. 
The  city  has  its  great  thoroughfares  aflare  with  gas,  brilliant 
with  decoration,  astir  with  all  the  signs  of  modern  activity  and 
progress ;  but,  alas  !  the  city  has  its  back  streets,  its  out-of-the- 
way  places  ; — some  of  us  dare  not  go  through  such  portions  of 
the  city, — what  wonder  if  we  only  see  thoroughfare  life,  and  say, 


i66 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  vii.  2. 


Behold  the  signs  of  wealth,  and  splendour,  and  power;  this  is  the 
culmination  of  civilising  influence  ?  Who  reflects  that  there  are 
quarters  in  every  metropolis  in  Europe  into  which  decency  dare 
not  enter,  and  purity  itself,  except  associated  with  the  highest 
moral  strength,  shudders  to  think  of?  We  find  also  in  this  city 
the  house  of  piety  and  the  house  of  profanity.  How  we  deprive 
ourselves  of  many  a  stimulus  to  fuller  labour  by  concealing  from 
ourselves  that  there  is  a  house  of  profanity  !  We  do  not  destroy 
the  house  by  ignoring  it.  We  bless  God  that  there  are  some 
brave  spirits  who  do  not  ignore  the  existence  of  the  house  of 
profanity,  but  who  go  boldly  up  to  it,  and  ask  to  walk  through 
it,  and  leave  a  message  to  its  owner,  and  ask  its  inhabitants  to 
discuss  great  questions  and  submit  themselves  to  the  influence  of 
new  atmospheres.  These  are  the  apostles  of  the  time — the  brave 
pioneers  of  heaven’s  own  King;  they  should  be  supported, 
honoured,  and  sustained  by  persons  who  have  not  their  moral 
nerve  or  their  spiritual  dauntlessness.  All  this  we  may  admit 
and  yet  forget  that  Beth-aven  and  Bethel  are  in  the  same  man. 
Every  man  would  seem  to  be  two  men.  What  contrasts  there 
are  in  our  own  personal  character  !  On  one  side  how  generous, 
noble,  trustful,  philanthropic ;  almost  grand  to  a  heroic  point  in 
our  impulses  and  propositions  and  activities  ;  and  yet  presently 
we  come  upon  a  vein  of  the  purest  selfishness  that  ever  debased 
a  character.  We  have  public  benevolence  and  private  self-will : 
we  will  do  anything  for  the  masses,  we  begrudge  everything 
expended  upon  our  own  family.  Or  contrariwise :  the  little 
personal  house  may  have  everything — every  door-panel  a  picture, 
every  window  a  garden,  every  floor  a  bed  of  flowers  ;  but  we 
care  nothing  for  those  who  are  outside,  wasting,  suffering,  dying, 
hastening,  for  aught  we  know,  to  all  the  horrors  of  perdition.  Let 
every  man  examine  his  own  character,  and  he  will  be  struck 
with  the  contrasts  which  it  presents — the  singular  and  instructive 
conjunctions  which  come  together  even  in  the  individual  spirit. 
One  self  speaks  up  in  the  name  of  right ;  another  self  says,  Do 
not  speak  so  loudly.  Everything  depends  upon  the  self  which 
is  uppermost  at  the  time.  It  is  perfectly  possible  in  a  moral 
sense  for  the  same  fountain  to  pour  sweet  waters  and  bitter. 
The  apostle  asks  the  question  in  a  sense  which  was  not  intended 
to  exclude  that  possibility.  There  does  not  live  a  Christian  man 


Josh.  vii.  24.]  CURIOUS  CONJUNCTIONS. 


167 


who  is  not  conscious  of  this  dual  movement  in  his  own  soul : 
within  himself  he  says,  I  know  not  what  to  do ;  when  I  would  do 
good,  evil  is  present  with  me  ;  when  I  would  pray,  the  evil  spirit 
will  not  allow  me ;  when  I  would  sing,  I  am  suddenly  choked  ; 
when  I  would  give,  my  hand  seems  smitten  and  it  falls  by  my 
side  in  helplessness.  So  everywhere  the  seeing  eye  beholds 
Beth-aven,  the  house  of  vanity,  Bethel,  the  house  of  God ;  and 
the  Christian  teacher  wants  in  some  way  to  bring  the  influence 
of  the  latter  to  bear  upon  the  action  of  the  former. 

What  a  curious  conjunction  is  found  in  verse  24: — “  Achan 
the  son  of  Zerah.”  This  does  not  strike  us  as  a  conjunction  or 
contrast  in  English  reading.  “  Achan”  means  “  trouble;” 
“  Zerah  ”  means  “  the  rising  of  light.”  11  Achan  the  son  of 
Zerah  ” — not  immediately,  for  Achan  was  “  the  son  of  Carmi, 
the  son  of  Zabdi,  the  son  of  Zerah.”  But  the  division  is  most 
startling  as  seen  in  this  twenty -fourth  verse  : — Achan — trouble  ; 
Zerah — the  rising  of  light !  How  family  histories  vary  !  A 
praying  father  has  a  blaspheming  son.  The  honestest  man 
in  the  city  lives  to  see  his  first-born  expatriated  as  a  felon. 
Heredity  in  virtue  is  exploded.  Good  men  have  not  good 
sons  by  necessity.  It  is  easy  and  pleasant  talking  to  say,  Given 
a  good  stock,  and  the  branches  will  all  be  right ;  given  an 
excellent  father  and  mother,  and  the  children  need  not  be 
much  looked  after ;  they  will  come  up  in  the  way  of  righteousness 
and  be  ornaments  in  society.  That  sophism  has  been  exploded 
in  countless  tragical  instances.  Zerah,  representing  the  rising 
of  light — quite  a  poetical  name  ;  the  horizon  widens  as  he  gazes 
upon  it,  all  heaven  heightens  as  he  looks  the  prayerful  look 
towards  its  sublimity ;  how  little  he  thinks  that  presently  there 
will  arise  in  his  family  a  man  who  will  be  stoned  to  death  as 
a  thief!  He  could  not  help  that.  Abel  is  not  responsible  for 
Cain.  We  do  not  understand  the  working  of  many  a  mystery 
in  Providence.  Things  are  not  to  be  explained  by  one  reference, 
or  two :  the  explanation  lies  far  back  in  history.  The  dead  live. 
Reproduction  accompanies  development.  We  cannot  tell  what 
virus  stained  our  blood.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  heredity  in 
vice  is  not  fated.  The  blaspheming  father  has  a  praying  son. 
The  man  who  was  never  known  for  his  goodness  has  a  child 
who  is  a  philanthropist,  a  missionary, — who  dies  with  Christ 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.vii.  26. 


168 


upon  the  cross,  and  counts  the  crucifixion  coronation.  So  the 
law  does  not  operate  in  one  direction  only  :  it  is  an  impartial 
and  comprehensive  law.  Let  no  man  say,  I  am  fated  to  do 
thus,  and  so.  It  would  be  a  wicked  criticism  upon  Providence. 
The  answer  is  in  every  man’s  soul ;  and  who  does  not  know  that 
he  could  if  he  chose  be  a  better  man,  a  larger  man  altogether  ? 
Let  the  soul  itself  answer  the  question  in  its  own  identity  and 
in  the  solemnity  of  its  own  oath. 

What  a  beautiful  conjunction  is  found  in  verse  26,  when  con¬ 
nected  with  another  passage  of  Scripture  in  a  later  book!  In  the 
twenty-sixth  verse  are  these  words  : — “  Wherefore  the  name  of 
that  place  was  called,  the  valley  of  Achor,  unto  this  day  ” — that 
is,  the  u  valley  of  trouble.”  The  valley  of  Achor  is  said  to  be 
a  pass  leading  from  Gilgal  towards  the  centre  of  the  country, 
or,  as  it  might  be  represented,  from  Jericho  to  Jerusalem, — 
that  is,  from  the  city  of  destruction  to  the  city  of  God.  Remember 
that  u  Achor”  means  what  Achan  also  means,  namely,  trouble. 
Now  read  Hosea  ii.  15,  and  see  what  is  meant  by  the  beauty 
of  the  conjunction: — “  And  I  will  give  her  .  .  .  the  valley 
of  Achor  for  a  door  of  hope  ” — I  will  make  the  valley  of 
trouble  the  door  of  hope.  See  the  great  power  of  God  !  He 
can  accomplish  even  this  miracle.  <(  Thy  dead  men  shall  live.” 
The  desert  shall  blossom  as  the  rose,  and  the  wilderness  shall 
become  as  a  fruitful  field.  Where  thou  didst  weep,  thou  shalt 
laugh  in  godly  triumph  ;  where  thou  didst  fall,  thou  shalt  rise  : 
affliction  shall  become  an  altar ;  tears  shall  be  turned  into  tele¬ 
scopes  through  which  thou  shalt  see  still  further  into  the  heights 
of  God’s  astronomy — the  mystery  of  heaven’s  blazing  glories. 
God  will  not  have  valleys  of  trouble  left  in  his  earth.  It  is 
the  purpose  of  Heaven  to  cleanse  out  all  the  stains  and  taints 
of  sin  and  all  the  footprints  of  misery,  and  to  grow  a  flower 
where  poison  grew  before.  “  I  will  give  her  the  valley  of 
Achor  for  a  door  of  hope  ;  ”  she  will  hope  the  more  when  she 
remembers  the  trouble.  Our  afflictions  add  to  our  enjoyments 
when  sanctified  and  turned  to  their  highest  uses.  Chastening 
lifts  up  victory  to  higher,  if  soberer,  triumph.  It  is  the  contrast 
that  arrests  the  soul.  Had  all  been  garden-land  flowers,  singing 
birds,  summer  air,  we  should  not  have  known  want  or  pain, 


Josh.vii.  26.]  CURIOUS  CONJUNCTIONS. 


169 


nor  should  we  have  been  surprised  by  new  revelations  of  God’s 
goodness.  We  see  the  stars  in  the  darkness.  We  know  where 
home  is,  and  think  of  it  as  the  evening  closes  in.  We  left  the 
house  in  the  morning,  it  may  have  been  thoughtlessly  or  care¬ 
lessly,  without  highly-accented  recognition  of  its  security  and 
plentifulness ;  but  as  the  shadows  gathered,  and  the  wind  grew 
colder,  and  people  rose  from  labour  and  went  away  from  the 
field,  we  too  thought  of  home.  The  light  scattered  us,  the 
darkness  brought  us  together !  “  I  will  give  her  the  valley 

of  Achor  for  a  door  of  hope ;  ”  the  background  shall  be  adapted 
to  the  picture:  she  shall  see  the  light  thrown  upon  the  dark¬ 
ness,  and  be  astonished  with  great  amazement  when  she  beholds 
what  can  be  done  in  unexpected  or  forsaken  places.  Our  own 
experience  confirms  this.  We  know  this  sweet  passage  to  be 
quite  true.  We  are  the  better  for  the  visit  to  the  churchyard. 
We  are  the  richer  for  the  grave  ;  it  is  to  us  a  freehold  worth 
more  than  a  thousand  acres,  nay,  it  consecrates  all  other  acres  : 
it  touches  the  whole  land  with  religious  suggestiveness  and 
solemnity.  Now  we  are  the  better  and  richer  for  the  loss. 
Now  we  feel  that  we  would  not  forego  the  advantages  of  the 
great  sorrow.  (  Let  us  find  in  our  own  experience  a  commentary 
upon  Holy  Scripture.)  If  the  Bible  is  a  book  far  outside  of  us, 
without  any  vital  relation  to  what  we  know  and  feel  and  handle, 

what  wonder  if  it  should  fall  into  desuetude  or  become  almost 

\ 

contemptuously  neglected  ?  But  finding  in  the  Bible  our  own 
history,  a  mirror  in  which  we  can  see  ourselves,  reading  in 
the  Bible  the  universal  language  and  not  a  provincial  dialect, 
feeling  that  it  touches  life  at  every  point,  who  can  wonder  if  it 
should  be  the  man  of  our  counsel,  the  chief  book  in  the  house, 
our  chart  at  sea,  our  confidence  on  land  ?  Let  us  say  again  and 
again  to  ourselves,  as  if  reciting  heaven’s  own  poetry,  “I  will 
make  the  valley  of  Achor  a  door  of  hope.”  The  very  repetition 
of  such  words  discovers  their  music.  Say  it  in  your  distresses, 
repeat  it  in  the  snowy  winter-time,  rehearse  it  when*  the  fig  tree 
doth  not  blossom,  whisper  it  to  your  souls  on  the  way  to  the 
graveyard ;  and  in  the  time  of  personal  despondency,  of  which 
you  can  only  speak  with  reluctance  even  to  your  dearest  friend, 
hold  this  soliloquy,  il  Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul  ?  and 
why  art  thou  disquieted  within  me  ?  hope  thou  in  God  :  for  I 


170 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  vii.  26. 


shall  yet  praise  him,  who  is  the  health  of  my  countenance  and 
my  God.”  The  utterance  of  that  word  will  break  the  spell  of 
misery.  To  speak  such  a  sentence  to  the  soul  will  be  to  break 
the  fetters  which  bind  it  in  unholy  and  humiliating  bondage. 
I  will  make  the  valley  of  Achor  a  door  of  hope.  So  though 
to-day  we  be  in  trouble  and  darkness  and  distress,  wait  awhile, 
and  the  valley  shall  be  a  door,  and  the  door  when  it  springs 
back  will  open  heaven. 


‘Vk  SELECTED  NOTES. 

“  The  valley  of  Achor  for  a  door  of  hope  "  (Hosea  ii.  15). — The  Easterns  prefer 
a  figure  that  is  suggestive  but  at  the  same  time  hazy  and  indistinct,  and 
this  passage  belongs  to  such  a  class.  The  Valley  of  Achor  runs  up  from 
Gilgal  towards  Bethel.  There  Achan  was  stoned,  and  the  divine  indignation 
removed.  The  word  Achor  means  trouble ,  affliction;  and  it  is  just  possible 
that  from  it  we  get  our  word  ache.  Thus  the  valley  of  affliction  was  the 
door  through  which  Israel  first  entered  the  land  of  Canaan.  And  so  again, 
by  Hosea,  the  Lord  promised  to  lead  Israel  to  peace  and  rest  through  the 
valley  of  trouble.  The  very  indistinctness  makes  this  mode  of  speaking 
the  more  suggestive. 

- 

“  Achan  .  .  .  was  taken"  (v.  iS). — When  Jericho  was  taken  and  devoted  to 
destruction,  Achan  fell  under  the  temptation  of  secreting  an  ingot  of  gold, 
a  quantity  of  silver,  and  a  costly  Babylonish  garment,  which  he  buried  in 
his  tent,  deeming  that  his  sin  was  hid.  For  this  which,  as  a  violation  of  a 
vow  made  by  the  nation  as  one  body,  had  involved  the  whole  nation  in  his 
guilt,  the  Israelites  were  defeated  with  serious  loss,  in  their  first  attack  upon 
Ai ;  and  as  Joshua  was  well  assured  that  this  humiliation  was  designed  as 
the  punishment  of  a  crime  which  had  inculpated  the  whole  people,  he  took 
immediate  measures  to  discover  the  criminal.  As  in  other  cases,  the  matter 
was  referred  to  the  Lord  by  the  lot,  and  the  lot  ultimately  indicated  the 
actual  criminal.  The  conscience-stricken  offender  then  confessed  his  crime 
to  Joshua  ;  and  his  confession  being  verified  by  the  production  of  his  ill- 
gotten  treasure,  the  people,  actuated  by  the  strong  impulse  with  which  men 
tear  up,  root  and  branch,  a  polluted  thing,  hurried  away  not  only  Achan 
but  his  tent,  his  goods,  his  spoil,  his  cattle,  his  children,  to  the  valley 
(afterwards  called)  of  Achor,  north  of  Jericho,  where  they  stoned  him,  and 
all  that  belonged  to  him  ;  after  which  the  whole  was  consumed  with  fire, 
and  a  cairn  of  stones  raised  over  the  ashes.  The  severity  of  this  act,  as 
regards  the  family  of  Achan,  has  provoked  some  remark.  Instead  of 
vindicating  it,  as  is  generally  done,  by  the  allegation  that  the  members  of 
Achan’s  family  were  probably  accessories  to  his  crime  after  the  fact,  we 
prefer  the  supposition  that  they  were  included  in  the  doom  by  one  of  those 
sudden  impulses  of  indiscriminate  popular  vengeance  to  which  the  Jewish 
people  were  exceedingly  prone,  and  which,  in  this  case,  it  would  not  have 
been  in  the  power  of  Joshua  to  control  by  any  authority  which  he  could 
under  such  circumstances  exercise.  It  is  admitted  that  this  is  no  more 
than  a  conjecture  :  but  as  such  it  is  at  least  worth  as  much  as,  and  assumes 
considerably  less  than,  the  conjectures  which  have  been  offered  by  others. 


PRAYER. 


\l- 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  for  a  clean  heart  and  a  right  spirit,  an  obedient  will, 
an  unquestioning,  restful  faith.  We  would  say  the  Lord’s  prayer,  Not  my  will, 
but  thine,  be  done.  Who  but  the  Lord  could  say  this  to  thee  ?  We  can 
repeat  the  words ;  we  can  feel  after  the  sentiment  as  blind  men  grope  for 
what  they  want,  but  we  cannot  pray  the  prayer  in  all  the  fulness  of  its 
meaning,  because  of  the  infirmities  which  disable  us,  and  because  of  the  tempta¬ 
tions  which  assail  and  weaken  the  soul.  What  we  do  not  understand  is  God’s 
will.  If  we  knew  that,  we  should  wish  it  to  be  done.  But  we  do  not  know 
it ;  we  misunderstand  it ;  we  make  it  narrow,  and  empty  it  of  all  divinest 
thought  and  meaning :  so  how  can  we  pray  that  it  should  be  done  ?  But 
even  this  miracle  thou  canst  work  within  us ;  thou  canst  reveal  thy  will  to 
our  hearts,  and  make  us  know  how  good  it  is,  how  necessarily  wise  and 
beneficent,  righteous  and  pitiful.  Lord,  do  this  great  thing  for  us,  and 
so  deliver  us  from  ourselves,  and  lead  us  into  thy  personality,  that  we 
may  live  and  move  and  have  our  being  in  God,  and  be  conscious  of  no 
other  life,  but  have  all  the  triumph  and  sense  of  security  rising  from  the 
sure  consciousness  that  we  are  in  the  Living  One.  We  are  blind,  and 
would  see  afar  off.  Thou  seest  the  end  from  the  beginning.  We  mistake 
all  things ;  we  misplace  them ;  we  cannot  follow  all  the  drift  of  their 
meaning,  or  appreciate  all  the  colour  of  their  suggestion  ;  we  are  poor,  inapt 
scholars  in  the  great  school.  Give  us  rest  from  ourselves  by  giving  us  deeper 
peace  in  God.  Thus  would  we  come  to  the  Lord’s  prayer,  which  lay  so  near 
the  Lord’s  Cross.  If  we  can  pray  this  prayer,  the  bitterness  of  death  will  be 
past,  and  the  Cross  we  shall  despise  as  to  its  shame.  Help  us  to  carry  life’s 
burdens  with  some  measure  of  cheerfulness,  and  enable  us  to  say,  This 
also  cometh  forth  from  the  Lord,  even  this  great  cross,  this  dark  cloud,  this 
large  loss,  this  weakening  infirmity.  Thus  we  shall  count  the  stones  upon 
the  road  as  jewels  ;  the  Cross  will  be  a  way  to  the  crown;  and  all  the  dis¬ 
cipline  of  life  will  have  as  its  promise  an  exceeding  great  reward.  As  for 
our  sin,  we  remember  it  only  to  mourn  it,  and  we  bring  it  to  the  Cross, 
and  we  nail  it  there  :  there  it  is  borne  away  by  the  Lamb  of  God,  in  whom 
is  our  heart’s  trust,  and  from  whom  is  our  daily  expectation.  Love  us 
every  one,  throw  thine  arms  more  closely  and  tenderly  around  us,  give  us  a 
feeling  of  security,  work  within  us  a  godly  discontent  with  everything  that 
is  less  than  ourselves,  and  create  in  us  that  fierce  hunger  which  only  the 
infinite  can  satisfy.  Pity  us  in  our  weaknesses  and  reckon  not  our  infir¬ 
mities  against  us  until  they  aggravate  thy  righteousness  and  provoke  thy 
law,  and  come  over  the  mountain  of  our  sin  as  one  who  travelleth  in  haste, 
and  destroy  the  mountain  as  thou  dost  touch  it  in  the  passage.  We  pray 
this  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  taught  us  to  pray.  Until  he  came,  our 
prayers  were  poor,  and  narrow,  and  selfish ;  but  he  being  in  our  hearts,  by 
the  Spirit,  we  can  pray  to  have  no  will  :  we  can  say,  Thy  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Amen. 


172 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  vii.  18. 


Joshua  vii.  18. 

41  And  Achan  .  .  .  was  taken.” 

ACHAN  A  REPRESENTATIVE  MAN. 

THERE  is  nothing  old  in  these  words.  Achan  is  “  taken  ” 
every  day.  Achan  is  sure  to  be  u  taken.”  If  we  are 
practising  the  policy  of  Achan,  the  fate  of  Achan  we  can  never 
avert ;  the  detail  will  be  different — the  mere  map  and  plan — 
but  the  issue  will  be  the  same,  because  God’s  throne  is  the  same, 
and  there  is  no  change  in  his  righteousness.  So  this  is  not 
ancient  history,  but  a  line  taken  out  of  this  day’s  record — a  line 
we  would  gladly  not  read ;  but  why  should  we  spoil  our  school¬ 
ing  because  we  are  eclectic,  reading  a  line  here  and  there  just 
as  it  may  please  us,  instead  of  reading  straight  through,  solemnly, 
minutely,  and  fearlessly  ?  We  do  not  like  to  look  into  perdition 
— we  are  afraid  of  being  scorched  !  But  whatever  we  find  upon 
the  way  of  life  and  in  the  discipline  of  life,  it  will  be  well  to 
look  at  steadfastly  and  reverently,  and  ask  God  for  that  apt  mind 
and  interpreting  faculty  which  can  seize  meanings  and  secure 
them  and  hold  them  as  spiritual  riches. 

What  a  representative  man  is  Achan  1  Does  he  not  represent 
those,  for  example,  who  are  continually  taking  great  risks  ? 
What  a  life  some  men  lead  !  They  are  always  on  the  brink  ;  an 
unforeseen  pebble  might  topple  them  over  in  a  moment.  There 
is  a  kind  of  moral  speculativeness  about  them.  Their  psychology 
is  difficult  to  understand.  They  will  take  chances,  they  will  run 
into  dangerous  places ;  their  happiness  appears  to  consist  in  the 
number  and  the  quality  of  the  risks  they  accept.  It  was  very 
unlikely  that  any  man  would  escape  who  took  such  a  risk  as 
Achan  took.  But  we  must  not  lightly  dismiss  the  people  who 
are  taking  risks.  It  would  be  easy  to  blame  them,  easy  to 
chastise  them  with  stinging  words  and  bitter  and  just  re¬ 
proaches  ;  but  there  is  something  in  the  making  of  a  man  :  we 
cannot  account  for  it ;  there  is  a  tincture  in  the  blood.  Some 
men  would  seem  to  be  almost  born  to  risks  and  dangers,  every 
laugh  a  concealment,  every  joke  a  new  hypocrisy,  every  appear¬ 
ance  of  guilelessness  an  attainment  in  infernal  skill.  There  is 
but  a  step  between  them  and  death.  The  partition  which  keeps 


Josh.vii.  1 8.]  ACHAN  A  REPRESENTATIVE  MAN.  173 


them  from  the  prison  and  the  gallows  is  almost  transparent ;  a 
wind  of  the  gentlest  kind  might  blow  it  down.  What  an  excited 
life  !  and  not  the  less  excited  that  it  appears  to  be  measured  and 
quiet ;  every  tone  is  a  calculation  ;  the  whole  life  is  constructed 
upon  dramatic  and  poetic  lines  ;  not  a  posture  that  is  not  also 
a  confession,  or  an  evasion,  or  a  suggestion,  if  we  had  those  keen 
eyes  which  can  see  below  surfaces  into  meanings  and  purposes. 

But  the  n^stery  of  it  is  that  Achan  represents  also  men  who 
have  no  need  to  take  risks.  They  have  plenty  ;  they  have  sweet 
homes  ;  they  have  gardens  rich  with  all  kinds  of  flowers ;  and 
the  very  air  is  made  musical  by  the  birds  which  sing  in  it. 
They  need  not  go  out  of  their  own  doors  for  a  single  pleasure  : 
their  table  is  bounteously  spread  ;  every  corner  of  the  house  is 
built  upon  a  rock,  and  every  voice  in  the  house  is  charged  with 
some  musical  message.  Yet  they  covet  just  a  little  more  :  it  is 
only  one  acre  to  complete  the  estate ;  it  is  only  one  thousand 
pounds  more  to  make  the  odd  figure  into  an  even  one — then  all 
will  go  rhythmically  in  the  matter  of  finance  and  property ;  it 
is  only  one  more  slave  that  is  needed,  and  then  the  enjoyment 
will  be  sphered  off  into  completeness,  and  will  roll  and  shine 
among  a  thousand  globes,  and  be  a  source  of  daily  joy.  If  they 
had  need,  there  would  be  some  excuse.  When  David  ate  the 
shewbread  he  was  excused  because  of  his  hunger.  So  men  may 
do  many  desperate  things,  and  be  excused  in  some  degree  for 
doing  them,  because  of  biting  hunger  and  void  necessity  and 
tremendous  urgency  of  circumstances.  These  are  not  defences, 
complete  replies  to  righteous  impeachments,  but  they  may  be 
construed  into  extenuations,  and  the  just  magistrate  may  take 
note  of  them  when  he  has  to  pronounce  his  sentence ;  they  may 
throw  a  sob  into  the  judge’s  speech  ;  they  may  be  the  means  of 
suggesting  even  to  the  criminal  that  his  punishment  has  mercy 
mingled  with  it.  But  when  men  have  no  need  to  take  risks,  and 
yet  take  them,  it  becomes  a  wonder  whether  they  are  so  fated, 
crushed  down  by  Heaven  to  do  this  thing,  or  whether  they  have 
attained  a  mental  and  moral  perversity  absolutely  beyond  the 
range  of  any  chaste  imagination.  These  things  show  us  the 
critical  nature  of  life,  the  awful  difficulty  of  living,  and  the 
tremendous  pressure  that  is  put  upon  some  men  in  certain  direc¬ 
tions.  We  must  be  charitable  in  all  our  judgments,  especially 


i/4 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  vii.  1 8. 


charitable  towards  those  who  are  young  and  inexperienced, 
who  do  not  understand  the  mischief  they  are  beginning ;  and 
something  must  be  set  down  to  an  imagination  too  buoyant  to 
bow  before  the  sober  dictates  of  reason.  Then  allowance  must 
also  be  made  for  men  of  a  certain  descent.  We  carry  our  fathers 
with  us.  We  have  seen  again  and  again  in  these  studies  that  no 
man  liveth  un*to  himself,  and  that  no  man  is  himself  only.  What 
can  some  men  do  who  were  born  in  darkness,  born  in  slavery, 
born  just  outside  hell ;  who  have  had  no  friends,  no  education, 
no  chance  in  life,  and  who  seem  to  think — and  not  unreasonably 
— that  life  is  a  battle  in  which  the  strongest  wins,  a  race  which 
is  given  to  the  swiftest,  and  that  sometimes  strength  must  be 
outwitted  by  cunning,  and  sometimes  swiftness  must  be  deceived 
by  putting  the  time  forward  or  backward  so  as  to  baffle  calcula¬ 
tion  ?  Thank  God  we  are  not  judges.  We  stand  in  the  same 
dock  :  let  God  be  judge. 

Achan  committed  a  sin  which  is  common  to  us  all,  in  so  far 
that  he  felt  it  extremely  difficult  to  subordinate  the  personal  to 
the  communal.  He  might  have  said — and  in  so  saying  he  would 
have  talked  good,  round  English, — What  can  a  wedge  of  gold 
matter  in  all  this  great  heap  of  wealth  ?  What  is  the  difference 
one  Babylonish  garment  more  or  less  ?  Who  will  be  the  worse 
for  my  taking  it  ?  Nobody  need  know.  I  want  a  relic  of  this 
event,  I  want  a  keepsake ;  this  has  been  a  very  wonderful 
miracle,  and  I  want  to  keep  in  my  house  some  memorial  of  it ; 
I  could  turn  these  things  into  good,  moral  uses  :  I  could  preach 
sermons  upon  them,  I  could  derive  lessons  from  them.  It  cannot 
make  any  difference  where  thousands  of  men  are  concerned  if 
I  take  one  wedge  of  gold,  two  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  and  a 
goodly  Babylonish  garment — they  are  all  but  a  handful,  and  who 
will  miss  them  ?  In  fact,  there  will  be  no  reckoning ;  things  in 
connection  with  a  battle  are  done  so  tumultuously  and  so  irregu¬ 
larly  that  none  will  ever  think  of  looking  up  such  a  handful  of 
spoil  as  I  may  seize.  That  is  the  exaggeration  of  individualism  ; 
that  is  the  lie  which  man  is  always  telling  to  himself.  It  is  the 
falsehood  which  enables  him  to  cheat  the  body  politic  : — What 
can  it  matter  if  I  do  not  vote  ?  There  are  thousands  of  people 
who  want  to  vote,  let  them  enjoy  themselves,  and  I  will  take 
mine  ease.  What  can  it  matter  if  I  do  not  keep  the  laws  of  the 


Josh.  vii.  1 8.]  A  CHAN  A  REPRESENTA  TIVE  MAN 


J75 


company — the  municipal  or  other  company  ?  The  great  majority 
of  the  neighbours  will  keep  them,  and  as  for  any  little  in¬ 
fraction  of  them  of  which  I  may  be  guilty,  it  is  mere  pedantry 
to  remark  upon  it.  Who  cares  for  the  body  politic — the  body 
corporate  ?  We  are  being  taught  to  respect  that  so-called 
abstraction  ;  but  the  lesson  is  a  very  difficult  one  to  learn.  What 
seems  to  belong  to  everybody,  belongs  to  -nobody.  When  shall 
we  come  to  understand  fully  that  there  is  a  corporate  humanity, 
a  public  virtue,  a  body  politic,  with  its  responsibilities,  laws, 
duties, — a  great  training-school  in  which  individualism  is  sub¬ 
ordinated  to  the  commonwealth  ?  We  talk  to-day  in  this  matter 
the  language  of  Achan.  Let  him  who  is  not  guilty  say  so  to 
himself,  for  no  other  hearer  could  well  believe  him. 

Does  not  Achan  represent  those  who  create  unnecessary 
mysteries  in  the  course  of  divine  Providence?  It  is  the  con¬ 
cealed  man  who  could  explain  everything.  It  is  the  thief  behind 
the  screen  who  could  relieve  all  our  wonder,  perplexity,  and 
distress.  We  have  to  search  him  out  by  circumstantial  evidence. 
If  he  would  stand  up  and  say,  “  Guilty  !  ”  he  would  relieve  our 
minds  of  many  a  distressing  thought  even  about  the  divine 
government.  We  wonder  why  the  people  are  delayed,  why  the 
battle  goes  the  wrong  way,  why  the  heathen  pursues  the  chosen 
man,  and  beats  him  down,  and  scorns  his  assaults.  We  speak 
of  God’s  mysterious  way.  It  is  a  mistake  on  our  part.  The 
silent  man,  skulking  behind  the  arras,  could  explain  the  whole 
affair,  and  relieve  divine  Providence  of  many  a  wonder  which 
grows  quickly  into  suspicion  or  distrust.  There  is  such  a  thing, 
however,  as  circumstantial  evidence  :  point  after  point  is  estab¬ 
lished,  link  after  link  is  forged  and  added,  and  we  watch  the  chain 
getting  round  a  man,  closing  in  upon  him,  beginning  at  the  foot 
and  coiling  upwards  until  it  strangles  him  !  That  is  not  a  picture 
in  romance;  that  is  the  reallest  thing  in  all  human  affairs.  There 
is  a  providence  of  time,  circumstance,  and  the  relation  of  the  one 
to  the  other.  Now  the  man  escapes,  and  now  he  is  swiftly 
brought  back ;  at  this  moment  circumstances  favour  him,  and 
presently  they  close  in  upon  him  with  tremendous  certainty  and 
awful  pressure.  So  we  have  bye-circumstances,  often  so  difficult 
to  piece  together  and  put  into  any  meaning  shape,  to  discover 
crimes  which  should  be  confessed  openly,  and  the  confession  of 


i;6 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE, 


[Josh.  vii.  i8. 


which  would  relieve  the  religious  consciousness  of  men  from 
many  an  unhappy  and  unwelcome  thought  about  divine  Provi¬ 
dence.  There  can  be  no  escape  !  The  very  stones  of  the  field 
will  fight  against  the  criminal ;  the  light  will  shine  at  the  wrong 
time.  The  detection  of  God  is  unerring.  We  say  this,  but  do 
not  realise  it.  If  we  could  realise  it  we  should  begin  to  consider, 
and  repent,  and  return. 

Look  at  the  case  in  one  or  two  remarkable  aspects.  Consider 
Achan,  for  example,  as  a  solitary  sinner.  He  was  the  only  man 
in  the  host  who  had  disobeyed  the  orders  that  were  given.  Only 
one !  It  is  therefore  incredible.  It  cannot  be  that  one  man 
would  stand  apart  from  the  whole  host,  the  solitary  criminal.  It 
is  excusable,  if  not  incredible.  He  was  the  only  one.  Why 
judge  him  ?  Why  arrest  a  whole  army  on  account  of  one  traitor  ? 
Or  if  it  is  neither  incredible  nor  excusable,  it  is  trifling. 
Nothing  smaller  could  have  occurred.  Let  the  host  go  on.  So 
man  would  say.  God  will  not  have  it  so.  He  does  not  measure 
by  our  scale.  One  sin  is  a  thousand.  One  uplifted  arm  is  a 
universe  in  rebellion.  How  many  sins  has  a  man  to  commit 
before  he  is  a  sinner  ?  God  will  not  allow  us  to  alter  the  relation 
of  things.  It  is  SIN  that  is  abominable  to  him — not  a  thousand 
sins  ;  it  is  the  spirit — not  the  number  of  actions.  This  is  the 
rule  of  the  divine  judgment,  and  this  is  the  explanation  of  the 
divine  movement  in  a  redemptive  and  judicial  direction. 

Think  of  Achan  as  a  detected  sinner.  For  a  time  there  was  no 
prospect  of  the  man  being  found  out.  But  God  has  methods  of 
sifting  which  we  do  not  know  of.  He  himself  will  say  how  the 
sifting  process  is  to  be  conducted  :  the  tribe,  the  house,  the 
family,  the  man  !  To  see  the  judgment  coming,  to  see  it  a  day 
nearer,  to  see  it  within  an  hour,  to  feel  the  inward  fire  burning 
into  unquenchable  self-accusation,  to  know  that  any  one  moment 
the  arresting  harrd  may  fall, — that  is  punishment,  that  is  ever¬ 
lasting  punishment.  Why  this  discussion  about  everlasting 
punishment  ?  All  punishment  is  everlasting.  We  have  made 
the  word  u  everlasting  ”  the  principal  word  in  the  argument, 
whereas  it  is  merely  incidental.  The  abiding  word  is  punishment. 
And  no  punishment  is  for  a  day.  A  man  once  condemned  has 
to  bear  the  results  of  that  condemnation  for  ever.  The  young 


Josh.  vii.  1 8.]  A  CHAN  A  REPRESENTA  TIVE  MAN 


177 


man  commits  a  crime,  and  is  punished  fifty  years  after ;  a  stone 
will  be  thrown  at  him  on  that  very  account.  Only  God  can  deal 
with  this  great  mystery.  The  great  evangelical  theology  says 
that  it  is  possible  now  for  God  to  be  just,  and  yet  the  Justifier  of 
the  ungodly  by  the  great  mystery  of  sacrifice — the  shedding  of 
atoning  blood.  But  it  needed  God  to  work  the  miracle.  Nature 
never  worked  it.  Conscience  never  worked  it.  Law  never 
thought  of  it.  This  is  God’s  doing,  in  love,  in  pity,  in  the  justice 
which  is  inspired  by  compassion. 

Then  look  at  Achan  as  a  confessing  sinner.  He  did  confess 
his  sin,  but  not  until  he  was  discovered.  And  the  confession 
was  as  selfish  as  the  sin.  That  is  a  difficulty  we  must  face.  A 
man’s  religion  may  be  the  only  thing  really  against  him.  Beware 
of  irreligious  religion  !  That  is  the  explanation  of  your  impre¬ 
catory  psalms.  That  is  the  explanation  of  Pharisaism.  That  is 
the  explanation  of  narrow  and  unworthy  views  of  Providence  and 
heaven.  Men  may  pray  selfishly,  believe  selfishly,  attend  to 
religious  ordinances  selfishly,  confess  their  sin  selfishly, — make 
an  investment  of  their  tears,  and  aggravate  their  original  offence 
by  an  awful  hypocrisy. 

The  picture  of  Achan  as  a  punished  sinner  is  appalling.  Who 
punished  the  sinful  man  ?  The  answer  to  that  inquiry  is  given 
in  the  twenty-fifth  verse,  and  is  full  of  saddest,  yet  noblest 
meaning.  Who  punished  the  thief  ?  “  All  Israel  stoned  him 

with  stones,” — not  one  infuriated  man,  not  one  particularly  in¬ 
terested  individual,  but  “  all  Israel.”  The  punishment  is  social. 
It  is  the  universe  that  digs  hell — the  all  rising  against  the  one. 
A  great  mystery  is  here,  yet  a  most  holy  and  beautiful  point. 
Society  punishes  the  bad  man.  When  the  magistrate  pronounces 
sentence,  he  does  not  speak  in  his  own  name :  he  is  a  repre¬ 
sentative  man;  he  is  Society  delivering  sentence  upon  the  evil¬ 
doer.  So  it  will  be  at  last.  There  will  be  no  one  to  arise  and 
vindicate  the  sinner,  no  volunteer  advocate,  no  man  so  left  to 
himself  as  to  stand  up  and  say,  “  I  defend  the  prisoner  at  the 
bar.”  Then  things  will  be  seen  in  their  reality.  Sin  will  be 
measured  by  the  righteous  standard,  judgment  will  be  meted  by 
the  righteous  Ruler ;  and  the  sinner  shall  be  stoned  by  the 
universe,  buried  by  the  universe,  forgotten  by  the  universe. 
My  soul,  come  not  thou  into  that  secret ! 


VOL.  v. 


12 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  feed  us  with  the  bread  sent  down  from  heaven  !  This  is  the 
true  bread,  even  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ.  He  called  himself  the  Bread  of  Life. 
He  gave  his  flesh  for  us,  and  his  blood,  in  mysterious  and  most  holy  sacrifice. 
He  could  not  tell  us  all  he  had  to  tell  because  of  our  want  of  capacity  and 
sympathy  and  nurture  in  the  Lord ;  but  we  begin  now  to  see  somewhat  of 
his  deep  meaning.  He  laid  up  words  which  time  would  explain  :  he  gave 
hints  which  the  ages  would  bring  to  perfectness  of  meaning.  Now  we  hear 
the  rising  music  ;  it  sounds  far  off,  a  distant  bell,  but  the  sound  thereof  will 
grow,  and  all  nature  shall  answer  it,  and  all  hearts  shall  be  made  glad  by  it, 
and  heaven  and  earth  shall  melt  into  one  another.  We  draw  around  thy 
Son  Jesus,  for  he  has  the  words  of  eternal  life,  and  he  speaks  them  as 
thou  thyself  wouldst  speak  them,  with  such  fulness  and  depth  and  tenderness 
that  our  hearts  know  them  to  be  true,  and  say,  Of  a  truth  this  is  a  voice 
from  heaven,  a  gospel  from  eternity.  If  we  say  otherwise,  we  condemn 
ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us.  When  we  are  under  proper  exulta¬ 
tion  of  spirit  we  answer  Christ  in  his  own  tongue :  for  we  are  taught  of 
God,  and  being  under  the  direction  of  the  Spirit  we  understand  Christ’s 
language  and  speak  it  like  our  mother-tongue.  Reveal  to  us  the  unsearch¬ 
able  riches  of  thy  Son.  Show  us  that  if  we  are  poor,  it  is  not  because  the 
wealth  of  heaven  has  not  been  offered  to  us.  If  we  are  sitting  in  darkness, 
it  is  because  we  have  wilfully  shut  our  eyeS^  If  our  souls  are  not  alive 
with  God,  it  is  because  we  have  chosen  de^th.  Multiply  thy  grace  unto 
us  according  to  the  need  of  the  hour.  Sometimes  it  is  an  hour  of  black¬ 
ness,  yea,  of  sevenfold  night,  of  darkness  gathered  and  heaped  up  into 
gloom  that  cannot  be  borne.  Sometimes  it  is  an  hour  of  delight,  of 
genial  sunshine,  of  summer  hopefulness  ;  and  then  we  think  we  shall  never 
die,  and  wonder  why  we  were  ever  sad.  Save  us  even  in  hours  of  exaltation, 
lest  we  become  heedless  and  forget  the  littleness  of  our  own  strength^,  Visit  us 
in  the  house  and  make  the  four  corners  thereof  as  four  lamps,  and  the  table 
thereof  as  a  board  of  sacrament,  and  the  fire  thereof  like  an  altar  kindled 
from  above;  thus  shall  the  house  be  a  delightsome  place,  full  of  holiest 
memories,  enriched  with  noblest  associations,  every  footprint  marking  a  pro¬ 
gress,  every  night  a  rest,  every  morning  a  grander  vow.  The  Lord  comfort 
us  in  sorrow,  in  affliction,  in  loss,  in  trial.  Visit  our  dear  ones  in  the  sick¬ 
room  and  in  the  places  of  waiting,  in  the  sanctuary  of  distress  and  in  the 
places  of  wonder,  sore  expectancy,  that  kills  the  heart’s  life  because  of  long 
and  mocking  delay.  Lift  up  those  who  are  bowed  down,  yea,  straighten 
them  into  their  first  uprightness,  and  give  them  the  joy  of  returning  youth. 
The  Lord  be  our  strength  when  our  poor  life  totters  under  some  tremendous 
blow.  The  Lord  clothe  us  for  the  battle,  and  bring  us  home  after  the  war 
more  than  conquerors.  Amen. 


Josh,  viii.]  THE  TAKING  OF  AT  SPIRITUALISED. 


179 


Joshua  viii. 


THE  TAKING  OP  AI  SPIRITUALISED. 


THE  details  of  this  chapter  are  certainly  not  in  keeping  with 
the  spirit  of  the  later  revelations  of  the  mind  of  God.  We 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  chapter  locally  and  incidentally ; 
in  that  respect  it  is  a  forgotten  thing.  Revelations  are  unques¬ 
tionably  matters  of  time.  This  is  the  solution  of  many  difficulties 
which  are  supposed  to  be  found  in  the  Bible,  where  there  are 
really  no  difficulties  at  all  when  the  whole  is  measured  by 
the  right  scale  and  examined  in  the  true  light.  It  must  not  be 
thought  that  the  events  recorded  in  the  Bible  took  place  one 
after  another,  just  as  quickly  as  they  could  occur.  There  may 
be  ages  between  one  book  and  another.  The  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  may  be  a  chapter  stretching  over  countless  epochs, 
rising  and  falling  myriads  of  years.  Between  Malachi  and 
Matthew  there  is  but  a  page  in  the  printed  book,  but  between 
Malachi  and  Matthew  as  a  matter  of  historical  literature  there 
is  a  span  of  four  hundred  years ;  in  other  words,  Malachi 
having  laid  down  his  pen,  that  pen  is  not  taken  up  in  continuous 
history  for  four  centuries.  Keep  this  in  view,  and  very  much 
that  is  cloudy  and  perplexing  will  be  dissolved  and  made  luminous. 
What,  therefore,  shall  we  do  with  a  chapter  like  this,  so  full 
of  cunning,  stratagem,  military  surprises,  and  what  would  be 
called  sharp  practice  upon  the  unsuspecting  inhabitants  of  Ai  ? 
We  can  spiritualise  it  in  the  best  sense.  There  is  a  legitimate 
way  of  spiritualising  ancient  history,  and  this  is  the  only  way 
in  which  a  history  of  this  kind  can  be  treated  with  modern 
pertinence,  comfort,  and  edification. 


With  this  precaution  then,  how  does  the  striking  story  appear 
to  us  ?  It  appears,  in  the  first  place,  that  in  going  out  to  battle 
with  anything  that  is  doomed  we  must  have  a  right  character 
and  a  right  cause.  This  was  insisted  upon  in  the  case  of  Ai. 
The  Lord  would  not  allow  a  blow  to  be  struck  at  the  city  by  a 
wicked  hand;  he  will  have  judgment  executed  by  righteousness; 
he  will  have  the  law  proclaimed  by  lips  that  have  been  circum¬ 
cised  and  anointed.  Israel  was  all  but  innumerable  in  force. 


i8o 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  viii. 


In  relation  to  the  city  of  Ai,  Israel  was  a  torrent  that  could  not 
be  withstood.  But  Israel  had  committed  sin.  A  goodly  Baby¬ 
lonish  garment  and  two  hundred  shekels  of  silver  and  a  wedge 
of  gold  fifty  shekels  in  weight  had  been  stolen  by  an  Israelitish 
soldier.  The  Lord  will  not  have  such  warriors.  His  purpose 
has  ever  been  to  prove  that  right  is  might,  that  without  character 
we  cannot  do  his  work — not  spotless  character,  which  may  be 
impossible  under  present  conditions,  but  character  that  is  in¬ 
tensely  in  earnest,  set  in  the  right  direction,  aspiring  after  con¬ 
tinual  perfectness.  Do  not  go  to  battle  with  a  wrong  cause, 
or  your  weakness  will  be  assured  before  you  begin.  No  man 
can  be  really  eloquent  upon  a  bad  cause.  He  may  be  fluent, 
and  may  use  many  highly-coloured  words,  and  use  them  with 
great  skill ;  but  earnestness  of  conviction  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  all-persuasive  and  all-enduring  eloquence.  So,  before  going 
to  war,  there  must  be  an  inquiry  instituted  into  the  character 
and  into  the  quality  of  the  thing  that  is  proposed  to  be  done. 
The  first  great  inquiry  of  man  is  a  moral  inquiry,  not  an  inquest 
about  numbers,  places,  and  possible  issues — but,  is  this  thing 
right?  and  am  I  right  who  attempt  to  do  the  work  ?  That  being 
the  case,  go  forward.  Do  not  be  deterred  by  any  man,  by  any 
man’s  threatening,  or  any  man’s  inexcusable  folly,  but  proceed 
steadily,  prayerfully,  confidently.  This  is  the  rule  of  the  chapter. 
This  is  the  rule  of  all  ages.  Do  not  take  a  step  until  that  rule 
has  been  observed  and  realised.  Nor  must  the  term  “  right  ” 
be  construed  narrowly.  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  in¬ 
spiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth  him  understanding  about 
right.  We  have  murdered  right,  or  divided  it  into  opinions  and 
enumerated  them,  and  accounted  our  individual  opinions  the 
sum-total  of  right.  Let  the  spirit  commune  with  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  inspiration  will  not  be  withheld.  It  will  be  difficult 
to  keep  down  selfishness,  vanity,  ambition,  and  all  that  brood, 
but  it  lies  within  the  compass  of  the  power  of  God  even  to  crush 

the  serpent’s  head.  — „ 

The  next  great  lesson  of  this  incident  is  that  we  must  all 

advance  upon  the  doomed  institution.  When  the  idea  of  taking 
Ai  was  first  broached,  there  were  clever  men  in  Israel  who  said, 
Let  two  or  three  thousand  of  us  go  up  and  take  the  city ;  the 
whole  army  has  been  perambulating  round  about  the  walls  of 


Josh.  viii.  5.]  THE  TAKING  OF  AI  SPIRITUALISED.  181 


Jericho ;  it  is  quite  needless  to  put  the  entire  army  to  this 
expense  of  time  and  strength  ;  depute  some  two  or  three  thousand 
of  us,  and  we  will  go  up  and  smite  Ai  and  burn  it  to  ashes  ; 
it  is  a  pity  to  weary  all  the  people  when  a  handful  of  them 
might  execute  the  design.  There  are  always  such  meddle¬ 
some  people  in  God’s  army,  who  will  divide,  and  distribute, 
and  cultivate  what  they  call  opinions.  They  will  not  allow  the 
great  laws  of  God  to  move  on  in  massiveness  and  majesty; 
they  will  meddle  with  God.  Two  or  three  thousand  of  the 
people  of  Israel  went  up  against  Ai,  and  we  have  seen  the  result. 
Now  we  must  return,  says  the  historian,  in  effect,  to  God’s 
own  appointed  law  in  this  matter :  “  I,  and  all  the  people  that 
are  with  me,  will  approach  unto  the  city”  (v.  5).  That  must 
be  the  rule  of  the  Church  in  all  its  great  moral  wars.  The 
battle  is  not  to  be  handed  over  to  a  few  persons,  however 
skilful  and  zealous.  The  work  of  teaching  the  world  and 
saving  the  world  is  a  work  committed  to  the  whole  Christian 
body.  There  are  to  be  no  laymen  in  this  war.  We  must 
obliterate  the  official  distinction  between  clergy  and  laity,  pulpit 
and  pew.  The  living  Church  of  the  living  God  is  one.  For¬ 
getting  this  rule,  what  has  come  to  pass  ? — that  destructive 
work  and  constructive  work,  acts  of  benevolence  and  charity, 
have  devolved  upon  handfuls  of  men,  and  they  have  been  left 
to  do  all  that  was  needful  in  battle  and  in  charity.  They  have 
been  favoured  with  the  criticism  of  those  who  have  stayed  at 
home.  (Criticism  has  never  been  a  scarce  article  in  human  history  l) 
Persons  who  have  done  nothing,  sacrificed  nothing,  given  nothing, 
are  the  very  people  who  are  able,  by  some  vicious  inspiration, 
to  find  fault  with  everybody  else.  When  the  Church  realises 
its  totality,  when  every  man  is  part  of  an  army  and  not  an 
isolated  warrior,  then  every  Ai  doomed  of  heaven  shall  reel  under 
the  battering-ram  which  the  Church  will  employ.  When  all 
the  people  are  at  work,  there  can  be  no  criticism :  they  are 
involved  in  the  same  strife  and  issue ;  they  are  common  patriots, 
fellow-soldiers,  parts  of  the  same  great  multitude,  and  there 
is  no  time  for  mutual  exasperation  and  folly.  The  clever  men, 
therefore,  were  in  the  second  instance  displaced.  They  supposed 
that  they  had  realised  quite  a  clever  idea,  that  all  the  great 
body  of  Israel  might  remain  at  home  and  two  or  three  thousand 


1 82 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  viii.  5. 


young,  sharp,  clever,  active  men  might  go  up  and  do  all  the 
work,  and  come  galloping  home  at  night  conquerors  rich  with 
spoil.  The  Lord  will  not  have  it  so.  Joshua  must  himself  go 
up,  and  all  the  people  must  go  up  with  him.  There  are  to  be 
no  mere  critics ;  there  are  to  be  thousands  of  active  soldiers. 

This  being  so,  the  incident  brings  before  us  in  a  very  sugges¬ 
tive  and  picturesque  manner  the  fact  that  we  must  excel  the 
enemy  in  shrewdness.  A  perusal  of  the  chapter  will  show  what 
military  cunning  was  expended  upon  this  particular  situation. 
The  idea  is  not  to  be  taken  in  its  literal  sense  as  applicable  to-day 
to  anything  with  which  the  Church  has  to  deal ;  but  this  is  the 
eternal  thought  :  that  the  Church  is  to  be  shrewder  than  the 
world,  believers  are  to  be  keener  of  mind  and  more  active  in 
every  energy  than  unbelievers.  Who  was  to  be  “  wise  as 
serpents,”  u  harmless  as  doves  ”  ?  Who  was  called  to  realise 
that  startling  paradox  ?  It  is  the  law  of  true  advancement  and 
conquest  in  things  moral  and  divine.  But  the  Church  can  never 
learn  this  lesson.  “  Harmless  as  doves,”  in  the  se'nse  of  doing 
nothing,  the  Church  is  superhumanly  able  to  be  ;  but  “  wise  as 
serpents  ” — silent,  thoughtful,  shrewd,  far-sighted,  patient, — who 
can  realise  this  idea?.  Whatever  the  world  does,  the  Church 
should  show  a  nobler  strength.  The  Church  should  buy  up  every 
institution  which  it  cannot  burn  up.  The  Church  should  have 
all  the  thoroughfares  and  crowd  back  the  evil — back,  and  further 
back  still,  till  it  reels  into  the  river  !  The  Church  has  not  done 
this,  but  has  taken  up  positions  in  quiet  corners,  and  out-of-the- 
way  places,  and  has  lived  a  very  inoffensive  and  peacefully 
obscure  life.  The  Salvation  Army  is  right,  or  Christianity  is  a 
mistake.  Respectability,  conventionally  understood,  in  Christian 
service  may  be  blasphemy.  So  long  as  men  remain  in  obscure 
positions  and  show  themselves  to  be  so  infantile  that  they 
would  not  even  injure  the  devil  if  they  saw  him,  the  devil  is 
perfectly  willing  that  chapels  without  end  should  be  put  up  ; 
but  where  men  are  burning  with  godliness,  mad  with  earnest¬ 
ness, — where  the  universe  divides  itself  into  heaven  and  hell, 
right  and  wrong,  there  can  be  no  peace,  there  can  be  no  truce, 
there  can  be  no  hand-shaking  over  the  chasm.  Would  Heaven 
that  all  the  quiet  people  were  on  the  other  side  of  this  question  ! 
They  could  be  well  spared  !  Christianity  in  a  fallen  world  is 


'  Josh.  viii.  io.]  ,  THE  TAKING  OF  AT  SPIRITUALISED .  183 


not  quietness.  Herein  is  that  wonderful  word  true  : — 11  Think 
not  that  I  came  to  send  peace  on  earth  :  I  came  not  to  send 
peace,  but  a  sword  ” — I  came  to  kindle  a  fire  upon  the  earth,  and 
to  set  a  man  against  his  fellow-man,  and  to  make  war  in  the 
house.  We  call  these  expressions  “  figurative  ”  and  escape  the 
awful  discipline  ! 

It  is  evident,  moreover,  that  if  we  are  to  do  any  real  work 
in  the  world  in  the  name  of  God  and  in  the  cause  of  Christ, 
we  must  be  about  our  business  night  and  day.  In  the  tenth 
verse  we  read  : — “  And  Joshua  rose  up  early  in  the  morning 
in  the  thirteenth  verse  we  read  : — “  Joshua  went  that  night  into 
the  midst  of  the  valley.”  That  was  a  soldier’s  life  !  We  are, 
as  Christians,  supposed  to  be  soldiers.  How  reads  the  old 
story?  “And  Joshua  rose  up  early  in  the  morning  ....  Joshua 
went  that  night  into  the  midst  of  the  valley.”  It  is  sad  that  we 
can  appease  our  consciences  by  telling  them  that  this  is  a  piece  of 
ancient  history  and  related  to  very  obscure  incidents.  It  is  not 
so.  If  men  will  subject  themselves,  the  apostle  says,  to  such 
processes  of  discipline  to  obtain  a  corruptible  crown,  what  should 
we  do  whose  aim  is  to  secure  an  incorruptible  ?  The  argument  is 
a  cumulative  one,  aggravating  itself  even  into  agony.  If  any  will 
so  discipline  themselves  to  obtain  an  ivy  or  a  parsley  chaplet, 
what  shall  we  do  whose  prize  is  the  crown  of  life  ?  If  we  cannot 
attain  this  sublimity  of  heroism,  we  can  at  least  set  it  before  us, 
keep  it  as  the  continual  idea  of  life.  We  need  not  upbraid 
ourselves  unreasonably  if  we  do  not  attain  it,  for  the  apostle 
himself  said  he  counted  not  himself  to  have  apprehended,  but  he 
pressed  toward  the  mark, — that  is  to  say,  he  was  always  found 
pressing  in  one  direction,  never  vacillating,  halting,  returning,  but 
eternally  set,  like  the  needle  to  the  pole.  Who  will  join  this 
great  army  ?  How  useful  some  men  might  be  if  they  had  the 
spirit  of  consecration  :  what  time  they  have  on  hand  !  They 
can  rise  early  and  sit  up  late,  and  order  their  affairs  with 
comparative  freedom.  Would  they  give  themselves  to  the  Cross, 
would  they  be  slaves  of  Christ,  would  they  make  up  their  minds 
to  be  either  infidels  or  Christians  !  The  difficulty  is  with  the 
tepid  man,  with  the  man  who  wants  to  walk  upon  both  sides 
of  the  road, — to  keep  sacrament  once  a  month  and  visit  the 
devil  between  whiles. 


184 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  viii.  30. 


We  should  miss  one  great  lesson  of  this  story  if  we  did  not 
note  that  we  are  bound  to  set  fire  to  every  devoted  abomination. 
Ai  was  burned.  The  smoke  of  the  city  ascended  up  to  heaven, 
and  Ai  became,  not  a  heap,  but  the  heap, — as  if  it  were  the  only 
heap.  That  was  complete  work.  Is  our  work  complete  ?  Have 
we  added  fire  to  the  sword  ?  Is  ignorance  burned,  or  is  it  only 
labelled  u  wisdom  5’  ?  Is  slavery  burned  with  unquenchable  fire, 
or  has  it  only  changed  its  relation  and  its  colour  ?  We  are 
called  to  a  work  of  extirpation.  We  are  not  called  to  compromise, 
to  paltering,  to  arranging,  to  expediency  where  ignorance  is 
concerned,  or  slavery,  or  vice,  or  wrong.  We  must  not  omit  the 
fire.  Things  must  be  so  burned  down  that  they  can  never  grow 
again.  Otherwise  we  shall  have  all  the  work  to  do  over  again, 
and  the  ages  will  be  hindered  in  their  highest  progress. 

And  after  destruction,  what  then  ?  Positive  religion  comes 
next: — “  Then  Joshua  built  an  altar  unto  the  Lord  God  of  Israel 
in  mount  Ebal”  (v.  30).  It  is  no  use  building  your  altar  until 
you  have  burned  the  abomination.  A  great  destructive  work 
is  to  be  done  first,  and  in  the  doing  of  it,  there  will  be  great 
outcry  about  change,  and  novelty,  and  reprisal,  and  revolution, 
and  confiscation,  and  a  number  of  terms  very  imperfectly  under¬ 
stood.  But  we  must  not  build  where  the  altar  itself  will  be 
burned  down.  Be  sure  about  the  foundation  before  you  put  up 
the  building  ;  know  where  you  are  going  to  set  the  altar.  If  you 
have  not  been  faithful  in  the  work  of  destruction,  you  cannot  be 
faithful  in  the  work  of  construction.  It  is  lying  unto  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  build  an  altar  upon  the  basis  of  a  rotten  life.  So  we 
are  called  to  thoroughness  of  work.  There  is  to  be  no  super¬ 
ficial  action  here.  In  doing  this  we  may  give  great  offence  ; 
we  may  have  to  part  with  friends.  But  our  fathers  did  more 
than  that.  Read  their  history — indeed,  read  the  history  of  all 
progress,  and  you  will  find  it  to  be  a  history  of  loss  on  the  one 
side  and  of  gain  on  the  other.  Blessed  are  those  workers  in  the 
field  to  whom  no  favour  can  be  shown,  because  they  want  none, 
whom  it  would  be  impossible  to  patronise.  They,  having  done 
the  destructive  work,  may  and  will  erect  the  altar. 

And  after  the  altar,  what  ?  The  law — the  law  of  righteous¬ 
ness,  the  law  of  God.  Verse  32  reads: — u  And  Joshua  wrote 
there  upon  the  stones  a  copy  of  the  law  of  Moses,  which  he 


Josh.  viii.  32.]  THE  TAKING  OF  AI  SPIRITUALISED.  185 


wrote  in  the  presence  of  the  children  of  Israel.”  This  is  complete 
work — destruction,  the  erected  altar,  the  inscribed  law.  This  is 
healthy  work.  The  surgeon  has  done  his  duty,  and  now  nature 
will  proceed  to  heal  and  comfort  and  bless.  The  enemy  has 
been  driven  off  the  field  !  Now  the  altar  is  put  up  and  the  law 
is  promulgated.  Society  without  law  is  chaos.  An  altar  without 
righteousness  is  evaporative  sentiment.  ^Prayer  without  duty 
may  be  a  detachment  of  the  wings  from  the  bird  they  were 
intended  to  assistj 

The  picture  is  a  right  noble  one.  Omitting  all  that  was  local, 
incidental,  and  temporary,  here  stands  the  great  law  of  spiritual 
conflict : — a  right  character,  a  right  cause,  a  unanimous  advance, 
a  super-excellent  shrewdness,  a  business  that  touches  the  early 
morning  and  the  late  night,  fire  set  to  the  devoted  abomination, 
an  altar  built  upon  the  ashes,  the  law  written  upon  the  altar, — •* 
that  is  the  programme ;  and  any  programme  whose  lines  are 
not  covered  by  this  sublime  delineation  may  be  a  clever  invention, 
but  it  is  not  a  revelation  from  heaven.  We  are  thus  called  to 
energy,  called  to  labour,  called  to  sacrifice.  We  are  all  called. 
Merely  to  hear  what  the  army  has  been  doing  is  not  patriotism. 

CIn  the  Church  there  is  no  place  for  indolence,  there  is  no  place 
for  criticism,  there  is  no  place  for  mere  sentiment.)  Has  the 
world  to  be  captured  for  Jesus  Christ,  or  has  it  not  ?  If  you  say 
it  has  not,  then  abandon  the  standard  altogether ;  if  you  say  it 
has,  then  never  forsake  the  standard.  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  his  righteousness.  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait 
gate.  Take  unto  you  the  whole  armour  of  God.  Stand  against 
the  wiles  of  the  devil.  Never  leave  it  an  open  question  as  to 
which  side  you  are  upon.  Having  done  the  destructive  work, 
do  not  imagine  that  the  whole  programme  is  complete ;  now 
begin  the  construction  of  the  altar.  And  having  made  a  place 
for  prayer,  do  not  suppose  that  the  whole  duty  of  man  has  been 
.perfected;  next  put  up  the  law: — battle,  prayer,  law;  law, 
prayer,  battle.  If  there  is  aught  else,  it  has  not  yet  been  to  me 
revealed. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  the  bitterness  of  death  is  past :  the  world’s  worst  history 
has  been  lived;  and  now  the  latter  days  have  come  upon  us — days  of 
morning,  beauteous  and  rich  with  light;  the  glory  of  hope  is  round  about  us, 
and  heaven  is  near  at  hand.  We  will  not  sorrow  as  men  who  have  no  hope ; 
this  would  be  to  offend  thee  grievously,  for  thy  providence  was  never  so 
near  our  life  as  it  is  at  this  moment.  All  things  teach  us  the  divine  nearness. 
Our  own  life  is  a  witness  that  the  whole  world  has  become  a  sanctuary 
because  of  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  the  whole  priesthood  of  the  Son  of  God. 
We  bless  thee  that  the  future  is  lighted  up  with  ineffable  glory  :  now  we 
speak  of  abolished  death,  of  descending  heaven,  of  immortality,  of  life  all 
purity,  service  all  music,  and  hope  that  cannot  fade  away.  This  is  the 
realisation  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, — the  very  perfectness  of  love,  the 
bringing  to  maturity  of  thine  eternal  thought  concerning  man.  We  will  there¬ 
fore  dry  our  tears,  and  assure  our  hearts,  and  go  forward  like  men  inspired 
and  made  strong.  May  all  tone  of  mourning  be  taken  out  of  our  voices,  all 
colour  suggestive  of  dismay  and  fear  be  wholly  removed  from  the  whole 
course  of  our  being  ;  may  our  life  be  a  daily  witness  to  the  power  and  good¬ 
ness  of  God.  For  thine  open  book  we  bless  thee ;  for  its  most  ancient 
history  we  thank  thee ;  for  everything  that  shows  the  unity  of  manhood  and 
the  human  heart  we  cannot  but  be  grateful  to  God.  The  earth  is  the  Lord’s 
and  the  fulness  thereof.  All  time  is  thy  clothing ;  yea,  thou  hast  made  a 
garment  of  the  universe,  and  thou  standest  amongst  us  clothed  with  that 
glittering  humiliation.  Behold,  for  God  to  be,  is  to  make  all  other  being 
possible,  and  yet  to  distress  it  with  a  sense  of  infinite  distance.  Thou 
chargest  the  angels  with  folly ;  the  heavens  are  not  clean  in  thy  sight ; — 
what  can  compare  with  the  infinite  pureness  of  God  ?  Still,  thou  comest 
near  to  us,  and  thou  diest  upon  a  cross ;  thou  settest  forth  a  great  mystery 
of  sacrificial  blood  :  we  understand  it  not,  but  we  know  it  to  be  the  gospel 
which  the  heart  most  needs.  Amen. 


Joshua  ix.  2-27. 

THE  GIBEONITES. 

IT  would  seem  on  reading  this  narrative  that  it  can  have  no 
possible  relation  to  our  time  and  our  circumstances.  But 
God  would  never  write  a  Bible  which  was  to  obliterate  itself 
as  the  ages  come  and  go.  If  he  could  have  written  such  a 
Bible,  surely  some  instruction  might  have  been  given  as  to 


Josh.  ix.  2-27.] 


THE  GIBE  0 N IT E  S. 


187 


the  excision  of  the  parts  whose  meaning  has  been  exhausted. 
But  the  book  remains  in  its  entirety.  It  must  therefore  con¬ 
tain  meanings  which  were  not  merely  local.  All  that  can  be 
required  of  us  is  to  search  the  Scripture  even  in  its  oldest 
forms  of  history  and  parable ;  to  penetrate  it,  to  take  it 
reverently  to  pieces,  and  examine  it  with  devoutest  scrutiny. 
We  have  undertaken  to  show  that  such  an  examination  may 
be  conducted  with  great  profitableness.  Again  and  again  we 
have  seen  that  the  Bible  is  within  the  Bible, — that  all  letters, 
forms,  representations  are  symbolic,  or  are  so  many  doors 
through  which  we  may  pass  into  the  inmost  places,  the  awful 
sanctuaries,  in  which  may  be  found  eternal  truth,  celestial 
purity,  supernal  music.  Flowers  grow  along  the  road  traversed 
by  the  Bible  story.  The  old  wells  are  worth  opening ;  water 
comes  from  deep  rocks,  and  is  refreshing  to  men  and  ferti¬ 
lising  to  the  whole  Church.  Let  us  not  be  beguiled  by  the 
easy  thought  that  the  Bible  is  a  self-exhausted  book,  that  time 
obliterates  its  revelation,  that  the  days  impoverish  it  of  heavenly 
energy.  Be  it  ours  rather  to  believe  that  it  is  the  book  which 
is  daily  inspired,  daily  written,  and  continually  applicable  to 
every  variety  of  human  circumstance  and  need. 

The  proof  of  this  is  upon  the  very  face  of  the  exciting  nar¬ 
rative  now  before  us.  Do  we  not  see  here,  first  and  foremost, 
the  pitiable  shifts  to  which  all  spiritual  fear  is  driven  ?  The 
fear  of  Israel  came  upon  the  Gibeonites,  and  the  result  was  an 
invention,  a  false  arrangement,  an  attempt  to  escape  the  inevi¬ 
table.  This  is  the  story  of  to-day.  Volumes  might  *  be  written 
upon  this  one  thought — namely,  that  spiritual  fear  is  always 
and  of  necessity  driven  to  the  most  pitiable  shifts  Spiritual 
fear  says,  What  can  I  do  ?  I  will  undertake  long  pilgrimages  ; 
I  will  discharge  severe  and  exhausting  penances ;  I  will  set 
apart  certain  days  for  self-distress ;  I  will  pay  great  fines 
willingly;  I  will  draw  a  mask  over  my  face  and  obliterate  my 
identity ;  I  will  create  a  system  of  lucky  days  and  fortunate 
numbers,  and  enter  into  complex  speculations  and  arrangements; 
I  will  build  churches,  and  seem  to  worship ;  I  will  commingle 
with  the  people  of  God  as  if  I  were  one  of  them  when  my 
heart  is  a  thousand  leagues  away  from  the  very  poorest  soul 
in  all  the  sacred  number.  This  is  the  very  philosophy  of 


1 88 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  ix.  2-27. 


superstition.  Great  and  solemn  histories  find  their  fount  and 
origin  in  this  one  circumstance — how  to  baffle  God,  how  to  pray 
without  praying,  how  to  succeed  by  trick  and  lie  and  mean 
pretence.  Who  will  say  that  the  Bible  is  exhausted  as  to  its 
inner  meanings  and  its  profound  revelations?  The  trick  of  the 
Gibeonites  is  the  game  of  to-day.  Spiritual  fear  knows  not  the 
spirit  of  truth,  and  cannot  of  course  know  the  spirit  of  joy.  So 
long  as  we  are  in  fear,  we  are  not  in  God,  we  are  not  in  love  : 
il  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear ;  ”  we  are  not  in  truth,  for  truth 
blinks  not  in  the  presence  of  the  mid-day  light, — it  goes  forth  to  a 
thousand  lions,  leaps  over  a  wall,  and  runs  through  a  troop  as  if 
through  a  film  of  air.  Ard  we  not  always  cursed  by  this  spirit  of 
fear?  It  leads  us  to  misconstructions  of  God.  He  ceases  to  be 
God  when  he  is  looked  at  through  the  medium  and  under 
the  base  inspiration  of  servile  fear.  The  man  in  whom  the 
spirit  of  fear  is,  cannot  read  the  Bible.  It  is  a  mere  idol  to 
him.  He  looks  at  it,  pronounces  its  words,  accepts  its  partial 
perusal  as  a  task  ;  but  he  never  enters  into  the  inner  meaning, 
the  divine  thought,  the  eternal  affection  and  redemptiveness 
of  the  book.  What  is  the  consequence  ?  The  consequence  is 
that  he  can  be  frightened  away  from  the  book  by  any  man 
who  has  a  larger  mind  than  his  own,  and  who  has  a  more 
inventive  faculty  in  the  region  of  destructive  criticism  and 
embarrassing  remark.  Hold  the  Bible  with  the  timid  hand 
of  fear,  and  any  thief  may  take  it  from  our  yielding  grasp; 
hold  it  in  our  love  and  read  it  in  the  sunshine  of  joy  derived 
from  conscious  sonship  with  God,  and  no  man  can  pluck  it 
out  of  our  hand :  it  then  becomes  the  Bible  to  us, — not  a 
collection  of  letters,  forms,  but  a  breathing  spirit,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  proving  its  inspiration  by  inspiring  others.  We  may 
make  the  house  of  God  an  idol  temple.  We  may  make  the 
Bible  itself  a  mere  idol.  We  may  dispossess  the  heart  of  love 
by  almost  welcoming  the  spirit  of  fear.  Being  under  bondage 
to  fear,  we  are  always  inventing  religions,  inventing  methods 
of  escape,  trying  to  impose  upon  the  world  and  the  Church, 
and  even  upon  God.  We  have  therefore  to  pray  that  the 
spirit  of  fear  may  be  cast  out  of  us  as  an  evil  spirit  darken¬ 
ing  the  soul,  weaving  impenetrable  clouds  around  the  horizon 
of  the  divine  revelation,  and  making  the  stars — bright  globes 


Josh.  ix.  14.] 


THE  GIBE  0  NIT F.  ? 


189 


of  heaven — dim  and  murky,  divesting  them  of  all  poetry  and 
all  religious  suggestion.  The  spirit  of  fear  must  be  driven 
out  of  the  Church,  or  the  young  will  not  come  near  us.  The 
spirit  of  the  Church  is  a  spirit  of  joy,  truth,  love,  poetry, 
music, — these  are  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit ! 

The  application  of  this  narrative  to  modern  states  and  needs  is 
made  evident  by  the  very  fact  that  the  best  of  men  are  power¬ 
less  without  the  divine  Spirit.  This  is  proved  by  the  fourteenth 
verse  : — 

“  And  the  men  took  of  their  victuals,  and  asked  not  counsel  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Lord.” 

We  know  what  came  of  it.  We  are  beguiled  and  befooled  by 
appearances.  Some  circumstances  appear  to  be  so  very  simple  as 
not  to  require  consideration.  That,  is  the  moment  of  danger! 
Men  say  to  themselves,  Here  is  a  case  in  which  there  is  no  com¬ 
plexity  ;  the  proof  of  the  innocence  of  these  men  is  patent ;  there 
cannot  be  two  opinions  about  that ;  they  are  travel-stained,  they  are 
way-worn ;  the  bread  they  carry  is  mouldy,  the  bottles  in  which 
they  brought  their  wine  are  old  and  rent  and  useless ;  the  evidence 
is  perfectly  complete  ;  there  can  be  no  reason  whatever  for  making 
this  a  religious  problem  or  an  occasion  of  prayer ; — let  us  honour 
our  own  common-sense,  pay  tribute  to  our  own  reason,  and  act 
according  to  circumstances  about  which  there  can  be  no  dispute. 
Thus  the  Church  has  always  been  ruined  in  some  degree  by  its 
clever  men !  Except  ye  be  converted  and  become  as  little 
children,  ye  cannot  manage  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  even 
in  the  lowest  ranges  of  its  affairs.  Do  not  attempt  to  lock  the 
church  door  except  as  a  religious  act.  When  you  light  up  the 
sanctuary  for  worship,  do  it  as  if  it  were  a  solemn  act  of  prayer 
and  sacrifice.  In  everything,  the  smallest  and  apparently  clearest, 
consult  God.  This  is  the  religious  life,  the  joy  life,  the  free  life,  to 
do  nothing  without  the  spirit  of  prayer.  There  need  not  be  any 
affectation  of  mere  posture  and  form  of  prayer :  there  is  a  spirit 
of  fellowship,  a  continual  realisation  of  the  divine  presence,  a 
feeling  after  God;  and  then  the  uplifting  of  a  hand  is  prayer,  as 
is  the  falling  of  a  tear.  When  our  reason  seems  to  be  equal  to  the 
occasion,  the  temptation  of  the  Evil  One  is  heavy  upon  us.  We 
practically  dismiss  God.  We  do  not  mean  to  do  so.  If  the 
charge  were  made  in  words,  we  should  repel  it.  But  we  are  not 


190 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  ix.  16. 


always  right  simply  because  of  our  willingness  to  repel  charges 
that  are  made  against  us.  Men  do  not  alwaj^s  know  when  they 
are  the  subjects  of  envy,  jealousy,  evil  passion  ;  in  the  very 
paroxysms  of  jealousy  of  another  man’s  repute  or  good  position, 
men  have  denied  that  there  is  any  burning  of  envy  in  their  hearts. 
How  is  this  ?  Because  envy  has  a  way  of  coming  in  disguise  ;  it 
says,  “  I  have  come  a  long  way ;  I  am  no  enemy  of  yours,  I  am 
no  enemy  of  any  man’s ;  I  am  really  not  envy  or  jealousy  at  all ; 
I  will  do  you  good  :  I  will  prompt  your  righteousness  to  high 
indignation,  but  in  all  the  flame  of  its  wrath  there  shall  be 
nothing  that  is  not  akin  to  the  very  fire  of  God’s  own  feeling.” 
Let  us  beware  how  we  receive  disguised  spirits  into  the  heart. 
“  Brethren,  believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether 
they  be  of  God ;  ”  and  most  try  those  spirits  that  look  so 
perfectly  simple  and  bring  with  them  credentials  written  in  large 
letters  and  signed  by  very  conspicuous  names.  Truth  requires 
no  such  introduction.  Truth  is  fearless.  Sometimes  literally 
it  may  be  discrepant  and  inconsistent  with  itself,  so  much  so 
that  a  clever  reader  could  mass  all  the  discrepancies  and  make 
a  case,  against  the  witness;  but  truth  can  afford  to  stumble, 
stammer,  correct  itself  in  the  matter  of  mere  memory;  truth  can 
apologise  with  dignity;  truth  can  retract  with  candour.  The 
great  difficulty  is  that  people  will  not  make  their  reason  a 
religious  power ;  in  other  words,  identify  its  action  with  religious 
prostration  and  inquiry  of  God.  They  say  the  case  is  so  per¬ 
fectly  simple.  Such  simplicitjr  is  not  to  be  found  anywhere. 
God  is  in  the  smallest  flower  he  ever  made,.  Every  atom  that 
requires  even  a  microscope  to  discover  its  existence  has  a  distinct 
relation  to  the  eternal  throne ;  and  reason  in  its  proudest 
moments  loses  nothing,  but  gains  everything  by  the  prayer  that 
ennobles  its  understanding  and  whets  its  penetration.  Joshua 
and  his  men  were  beguiled  by  appearances,  by  a  most  evident  and 
obvious  case..  They  took  not  counsel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lord, 
and  what  came  of  it  is  revealed  in  the  narrative.  How  pitiful  is 
the  issue  !  How  short  is  the  life  of  the  schemer ! 

“And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  three  days  ”  (v.  16). 

That  is  the  life  of  a  lie.  It  cannot  go  any  longer  practically  ;  it 
may  do  so  arithmetically,  but  (l  three  days”  is  the  measure  of  its 


Josh.  ix.  27.] 


THE  GIBEONITES . 


191 


duration.  The  third  sunset — the  appointed  time — sees  the  mask 
fall  off  and  the  liar  stand — stand  only  to  fall.  When  will  men 
learn  this  ?  When  will  we  lay  this  lesson  to  heart  ?  Everything 
looks  so  successful,  and  the  whole  business  is  just  approaching 
completion,  or  has  actually  passed  the  point  of  mechanical 
maturity,  and  the  Gibeonites  are  about  to  settle  down  as  men  who 
have  successfully  perfected  a  trick ;  and,  lo,  at  the  end  of  “  three 
days  ”  their  whole  purpose  is  exposed  and  their  cleverness  is  ex¬ 
hausted  and  at  an  end  !  Possibly  some  may  be  pursuing  precisely 
the  same  policy.  The  circumstances  are  wholly  different ;  but  do 
not  delude  yourselves  with  the  notion  that  circumstances  make 
the  reality  of  the  case.  What  are  we  about  now  in  commerce, 
in  family  life,  in  all  the  relations,  personal  and  social,  which  we 
sustain  ?  What  about  the  trick,  the  mean  device,  the  covered 
lie,  the  well-painted  mask,  the  falsehood  well  got  up  ?  He  would 
be  no  prophet  of  the  Lord  who  did  not  ask  the  question  so  burn- 
ingly  as  almost  to  force  an  answer  from  the  perpetrator  of  the 
imposition.  But  men  will  not  learn  from  history  :  every  man 
must  commit  suicide.  We  see  a  thousand  men  before  us  in  the 
very  line  we  are  taking,  all  dead,  and  yet  we  think  we  can  pass 
the  heap  of  ruin  and  successfully  reach  the  final  point  of  the  line  ! 
It  cannot  be  done.  God  is  against  it ;  and  when  God  is  against  a 
man  his  reason  is  like  a  candle  blown  out,  and  his  cleverness  but 
adds  to  the  aggravation  of  his  guilt.  Nothing  will  stand  but  truth, 
honour;  truth  will  stand  when  all  things  fail.  It  lives  in  the  open 
air  all  the  days  of  the  year ;  it  can  go  out  at  midnight  as  safely 
ss  at  midday ;  it  speaks  to  a  king,  to  a  child,  to  a  peasant,  with 
all  the  simplicity  of  innocence  and  the  beauteousness  of  a  high 
and  noble  and  valiant  courage.  But  the  man  who  is  imposing 
upon  others  skulks,  listens,  wonders,  is  astonished  at  little  sen¬ 
tences  which  people  drop  as  if  they  were  dropping  them  on 
purpose,  is  excited  by  an  inquiry,  is  affrighted  by  an  unexpected 
letter.  He  is  a  liar,  and  the  liar  has  a  bad  time  of  it.  O  that 
men  were  wise,  that  they  understood  these  things  ! 

But  the  Gibeonites  were  spared.  Yes,  they  were  spared,  but 
were  made  bondmen — servants  for  ever  : — 

And  Joshua  made  them  that  day  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water 
for  the  congregation,  and  for  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  even  unto  this  day, 
in  the  place  which  he  should  choose  ”  (v.  27). 


192 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  ix.  27. 


The  liar  comes  to  humiliation.  He  cannot  come  to  honour.  If 
he  came  to  honour,  he  dare  not  touch  it.  Everything  turns  to 
ashes  in  the  bad  man’s  hand.  His  children  are  not  his  :  they 
disown  him ;  without  being  able  to  explain  it,  they  hate  him ; 
they  represent  to  him  the  wrath  of  an  indignant  God ;  they 
would  not  touch  him  :  his  kiss  blasts  their  young  lips ; — he  is  a 
liar,  and  should  be  kept  a  universe  off  virtue  and  beauty.  Do 
not  suppose  a  lie  can  be  made  permanently  successful.  Better 
eat  the  bread  of  poverty  than  the  bread  of  falsehood.  Better 
have  the  very  lowest  social  position,  hardly  a  foothold  in  the  world 
at  all,  yet  maintain  it  like  an  honest  man,  than  have  all  the  surface 
of  the  globe,  and  know  that  the  air  is  full  of  anger,  and  that  the 
judgment  is  gathering  and  will  presently  explode  and  destroy  the 
victim.  No  counsel  can  prosper  against  God.  The  escape  from 
one  form  of  punishment  is  not  an  escape  from  all.  A  covenant 
had  been  made,  and  according  to  Eastern  custom,  when  men  had 
eaten  salt  with  one  another,  the  salt  was  to  be  as  a  perpetual 
protection  between  them.  We  have  already  seen  how  men 
spread  salt  upon  a  sword  and  took  the  salt,  each  of  them  :  hence¬ 
forth  that  sword  was  sheathed.  So  it  was  in  this  instance.  The 
covenant  had  been  made,  and  therefore  was  to  be  literally 
respected.  So  far  as  that  covenant  was  concerned,  it  stood ;  but 
God  has  always  one  other  thing  he  can  do  that  we  never  imagined 
or  suspected.  We  cannot  escape  God.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  Our  God  is  a  consuming 
fire.  He  never  consumed  that  which  was  good  :  he  has  no  fire  that 
would  burn  it.  Men  have  tried  to  burn  the  good,  and  have  failed. 
Men  have  guillotined  noble  reformers  and  patriots,  but  the  reform 
and  the  patriotism  came  up  sevenfold  greater  than  before. 
Great  tyrants  have  issued  orders  that  rebels  should  be  slain 
and  crushed,  and  crushed  and  slain  they  have  been,  but  in  so  far  as 
the  rebels  represented  righteousness,  justice,  fair  play,  the  guillotine 
failed,  not  the  men  who  were  decapitated  by  it.  So  there  is 
honour  reserved  for  the  good  man  and  the  true,  however  much  he 
may  suffer ;  and  there  is  judgment  reserved  for  the  bad  man,  how¬ 
ever  much  he  may  succeed.  Set  it  down  as  part  of  your  very  life’s 
programme  :  God  is  with  truth,  God  is  with  right,  God  is  against 
falsehood,  God  is  against  wrong ;  and  at  the  end  of  “  three  days  ” 
— that  is,  at  the  end  of  some  measurable  period — the  liar  shall 


Josh.  ix.  27.] 


THE  GIBEONITES. 


193 


stand  convicted,  the  bad  man  who  carried  his  head  so  high  shall 
find  that  head  falling  upon  his  breast,  and  the  man  whose  cause 
was  bad  and  who  succeeded  for  a  considerable  period  will  be 
brought  short  up,  God  will  look  at  him,  and  in  that  look  there 
will  be  hell  enough  ! 

What  is  the  cure  for  all  this  ?  What  is  the  great  answer  of 
Heaven  to  all  this  falsehood  and  suffering  upon  earth  ?  The 
answer  of  Heaven  is  the  answer  of  the  Cross.  Always  we  come 
back  to  the  Cross  of  Christ — the  blood  shed  for  the  sins  of  the 
world.  We  have  all  been  liars  in  the  sight  of  God,  though  not 
to  one  another  mayhap.  “If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we 
deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us  ;  but  if  we  confess 
our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to 
cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness.”  It  comes  to  one  of  two 
things  :  to  detection  or  confession.  Detection  means  perdition. 
Confession  means  pardon  ! 


SELECTED  NOTE. 

Gibeon  is  a  town  celebrated  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  not  mentioned  in 
the  New.  It  was  “a  great  city,”  as  one  of  the  royal  cities;  and  to  its 
jurisdiction  originally  belonged  Beeroth,  Chephirah,  and  Kirjath-jearim  (Josh, 
ix.  17;  x.  2).  It  is  first  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  deception 
practised  by  the  inhabitants  upon  Joshua,  by  which,  although  Canaanites 
(Hivites),  they  induced  the  Jewish  leader  not  only  to  make  a  league  with 
them,  and  to  spare  their  lives  and  cities,  but  also,  in  their  defence,  to  make 
war  upon  the  five  kings  by  whom  they  were  besieged.  It  was  in  the  great 
battle  which  followed,  that  “the  sun  stood  still  upon  Gibeon”  (Josh.  x.  12, 
1-14).  The  place  afterwards  fell  to  the  lot  of  Benjamin,  and  became  a  Levitical 
city  (Josh,  xviii.  25;  xxi.  17),  where  the  tabernacle  was  set  up  for  many 
years  under  David  and  Solomon  (i  Chron.  xvi.  39;  xxi.  29;  2  Chron.  i.  3), 
the  ark  being  at  the  same  time  at  Jerusalem  (2  Chron.  i.  4).  It  was  here,  as 
being  the  place  of  the  altar,  that  the  young  Solomon  offered  a  thousand  burnt- 
offerings,  and  was  rewarded  by  the  vision  which  left  him  the  wisest  of  men 
(1  Kings  iii.  4-15;  2  Chron.  i.  3-13).  This  was  the  place  where  Abner’s\ 
challenge  to  Joab  brought  defeat  upon  himself,  and  death  upon  his  brother, 
Asahel  (2  Sam.  ii.  12-32),  and  where  Amasa  was  afterwards  slain  by  Joab 
(2  Sam.  xx.  8-12).  None  of  these  passages  mark  the  site  of  Gibeon  ;  but  there 
are  indications  of  it  in  Josephus  ( De  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  19,  1),  who  places  it  fifty 
stadia  north-west  from  Jerusalem;  and  in  Jerome  ( Ep .  86  ad  Eusfoch.) : 
which  leave  little  doubt  that  Gibeon  is  to  be  identified  with  the  place 
which  still  bears  the  name  of  El-Jib ;  for  Jib,  in  Arabic,  is  merely  a  contraction 
of  the  Hebrew  Gibeon.  The  name  Gabaon  is  indeed  mentioned  by  writers 
of  the  time  of  the  Crusades  as  existing  at  this  spot,  and  among  the  Arabs  it 
then  already  bore  the  name  of  El-Jib,  under  which  it  is  mentioned  by 
Bohaedin  ( Vita  Saladin,  p.  243).  Afterwards  it  was  overlooked  by  most 
travellers  till  the  last  century,  when  the  attention  of  Pococke  was  again 
directed  to  it. 


VOL.  V. 


13 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  we  are  exceedingly  afraid  of  thy  power  :  we  dare  not  come 
nigh  it ;  we  may  not  provoke  it.  Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire.  It  is  a 
fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  So  we  speak  of  thee, 
and  so  we  feel  that  verily  this  is  true.  Yet,  God  is  love;  God  is  our  Father 
in  heaven;  like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that 
fear  him.  This  also  is  true ;  this  is  the  joy  of  our  life,  and  its  brightest 
hope ;  this  is  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God.  This  view  have  we  of 
thee  in  Christ  Jesus  thy  Son ;  he  revealed  the  Father  unto  us,  and  by  him  we 
have  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we  are  able  to  say,  Abba,  Father, 
with  a  new  meaning  and  a  new  music  in  our  voice,  for  the  love  of  God  is 
shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  given  unto  us.  Thou 
hast  great  resources  of  wrath,  yet  thy  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  In  wrath 
thou  dost  remember -mercy.  Power  belongeth  unto  thee,  and  to  thee  also, 
O  Lord,  belongeth  mercy.  It  is  unto  thy  mercy  that  we  come :  God  be 
merciful  unto  us,  sinners  !  Let  thy  mercy  prevail,  that  our  iniquities  strike  us 
not  with  the  great  hailstones  from  heaven,  killing  the  creatures  whom  thou 
hast  redeemed.  Spare  the  lightning,  and  the  hailstones,  and  the  great  rains, 
and  the  devastating  tempests.  Be  pitiful  unto  us.  We  are  as  bruised  reeds 
and  smoking  flax;  as  a  vapour  that  cometh  for  a  little  time  and  then  passeth 
away.  The  Lord  be  pitiful  unto  us ;  look  upon  us  through  the  tears  of  his 
love  and  not  through  the  anger  of  his  righteousness.  Comfort  us  according 
to  our  mourning  :  fill  up  the  great  vacancy  in  the  heart ;  establish  that  which 
is  wanting  in  our  faith,  so  that  it  may  be  long,  constant,  strong,  quite 
majestic  and  noble  because  of  its  amplitude  and  its  power.  Lord,  increase 
our  faith  !  Then  we  shall  rejoice  in  tribulation  also,  finding  in  tribulation  the 
beginning  of  patience  and  the  pledge  of  final  refinement  and  sanctification. 
The  Lord  send  none  unblessed  away.  If  it  please  thee  to  send  upon  us  first 
a  great  fear,  let  thy  love  afterwards  reveal  itself  unto  us,  and  may  we  see  the 
brightness  the  brighter  because  of  the  darkness  which  made  us  afraid. 
Carry  on  our  little  life  a  little  longer.  Desert  us  not  when  the  day  gets  to¬ 
wards  eventide  and  far-spent.  Thou  hast  not  brought  us  thus  far  along 
to  cast  us  away  into  the  pit  or  leave  us  in  desert  places.  We  will  think  of 
all  thy  goodness  in  the  past,  and  out  of  it  we  will  bring  a  holy  confidence, 
through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  blessed  and  only  Saviour,  that  thou  wilt 
surely  complete  what  thou  hast  begun.  This  is  our  strength  in  Christ ;  this 
is  our  hope  as  we  stand  near  the  Cross.  We  know  our  sin  is  great,  but 
where  sin  abounds,  grace  doth  much  more  abound.  We  will  say  this  to  our 
hearts ;  the  Lord  repeat  the  music  to  our  listening  expectancy  and  hope,  and 
we  shall  yet  be  filled  with  a  great  gladness,  and  the  eventide  shall  be 
brighter  than  the  morning.  Amen. 


Josh.  X.  II.]  THE  LORD'S  ARTILLERY. 


195 


Joshua  x.  11. 

u  They  were  more  which  died  with  hailstones  than  they  whom  the  children 
of  Israel  slew  with  the  sword.” 

THE  LORD’S  ARTILLERY. 

WE  have  seen  how  Gibeon  made  peace  with  Joshua. 

Adoni-zedec,  king  of  Jerusalem,  was  exceedingly  dis¬ 
pleased  with  the  men  of  Gibeon  for  making  peace  with  the  enemy. 
He  sent,  therefore,  unto  the  mountain  kings  of  the  Amorites, 
inviting  them  to  smite  Gibeon,  saying,  “  It  hath  made  peace  with 
Joshua  and  with  the  children  of  Israel.”  So  the  five  kings  of  the 
Amorites  went  up;  and  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua,  “Fear  them 
not  ....  there  shall  not  a  man  of  them  stand  before  thee.” 
u  So  Joshua  ascended  from  Gilgal,  he,  and  all  the  people  of  war 
with  him,  and  all  the  mighty  men  of  valour.”  And  Joshua  smote 
the  enemy  “  with  a  great  slaughter  at  Gibeon,  and  chased  them 
along  the  way  that  goeth  up  to  Beth-horon,  and  smote  them  to 
Azekah,  and  unto  Makkedah ;  ”  and  when  Joshua  had  done  all 
that  lay  in  his  power,  the  Lord  took  up  the  case,  and  he  hailed 
out  of  heaven  upon  the  enemy,  and  “  they  were  more  which  died 
with  hailstones  than  they  whom  the  children  of  Israel  slew  with 
the  sword.”  The  Lord  never  loses  a  battle.  The  picture  of  that 
fight  is  most  vivid.  It  gleams  with  many  colours,  and  as  it 
stands  in  the  gallery  of  ancient  history,  it  seems  to  say,  This  is 
how  it  always  is  ;  study  me,  and  see  the  providence  of  the  Lord. 
We  accept  the  invitation. 

The  divine  cause  has  enemies.  The  miracle  is  upon  our  side. 
Why  complain  or  utter  wonders  equal  to  complaints  about 
miracles  divine  ?  The  miracle  is  on  the  human  side,  and  is 
expressed  in  the  incredible  fact  that  the  divine  cause  has  human 
enemies.  Reason  seems  to  be  offended  by  the  statement.  A 
voice  within  us  protests  against  the  possibility  of  an  anomaly 
so  glaring  and  so  violent.  We  should  listen  to  the  protest  if  we 
could  shut  our  eyes  to  the  facts.  .Show  us  something  divine, 
and  we  will  worship  it.  Men  would  say  in  certain  moods,  Show 
us  the  truly  beautiful,  and  we  will  fall  down  before  it  in  an 
attitude  of  adoration.  Thus  we  exclaim.  The  common  doctrine 
would  seem  to  be :  we  have  only  to  see  the  good,  and  we  will 
accept  it ;  to  behold  the  beautiful,  and  we  will  worship  it ;  to 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  x.  ii. 


IQO 

y 


know  the  right,  and  we  will  do  it.  It  would  be  pleasant  to 
believe  this.  We  want  to  believe  it  for  our  own  creed’s  sake. 
But  facts  are  dead  against  us.  We  are  witnesses  against  our¬ 
selves.  We  see  the  right,  and  yet  the  wrong  pursue.  We  say 
openly,  with  frankness  that  will  be  turned  against  us  some  day; 
This  is  the  right  road.  But  we  are  going  in  an  opposite  direction, 
that  is  the  miracle  !  When  you  have  settled  and  determined 
that  anomaly,  then  you  may  begin  to  challenge  the  possibility 
of  miracles  upon  the  upper  or  divine  side.  “  Hear,  O  heavens, 
and  give  ear,  O  earth  :  I  have  nourished  and  brought  up  chil¬ 
dren,  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me.”  What  do  you  make 
of  facts  ?  We  sentimentalise,  or  dream,  or  speculate, — what 
is  your  answer  to  the  awful  mystery  that  a  man,  not  only  can 
say,  but  does  say,  This  is  right,  but  I  decline  to  do  it  ?  If  this 
were  matter  of  speculation,  you  would  put  the  speculation  from 
your  mind  as  unworthy  of  the  dignity  of  human  reason.  If 
this  were  a  charge  laid  against  a  distant  nation,  we  should  make 
some  trifling  remark  upon  the  incident,  describing  it  as  romantic, 
if  not  impossible  ;  but  it  is  the  great  line  of  our  own  life,  the 
broad  line  which  marks  our  whole  experience,  action,  and 
attitude ;  and  we  are  continually  face  to  face  with  the  solemn 
charge,  that  we  know  the  Lord’s  way  and  the  Lord’s  cause,  and  we 
set  ourselves  in  distinct  disobedience  to  his  law  and  claim. 

But  the  enemies  of  the  divine  cause  have  both  earth  and 
heaven  against  them  : — the  sword  of  Israel,  and  the  hail  of  God. 
The  living  God  has  two  great  forces  ;  if  you  escape  one,  you  fall 
under  the  power  of  the  other.  Men  cannot  do  with  the  earth  as 
they  please.  They  think  they  can,  but  that  is  a  deadly  mistake. 
What  can  they  do  with  the  earth  ?  Consider  the  case,  and  learn 
how  little  is  human  power  in  relation  to  those  very  things  which 
seem  to  come  easily  within  its  sway.  What  can  men  do  with 
the  earth,  which  is  under  their  feet,  as  if  in  sign  of  humiliation 
and  unworthiness  ?  Can  they  stop  it  ?  Can  they  reverse  its 
motion  ?  Can  they  illuminate  it  ?  What  can  these  masters  do 
with  their  nominal  slave  ?  They  can  smite  it  with  iron,  and 
make  it  grow  what  they  please.  No,  they  cannot !  The  dull 
earth,  hoed  into  grooves,  will  not  obey  the  iron  pick,  will  not 
turn  to  the  pluck  of  the  bit  and  bridle  given  by  violent  hands. 
What,  then,  can  we  do  with  the  earth  ?  We  are  obliged  to  study 


Josh.  x.  ii.]  THE  LORD'S  ARTILLERY, 


197 


it, — to  find  out  all  its  moods  and  whims  and  tempers.  We  are 
compelled  to  humour  the  old  earth.  We  have  to  treat  it  very 
delicately  and  very  kindly.  At  first  we  think  we  have  only  to 
smite  it  with  iron,  and  it  will  be  only  too  glad  to  respond  in 
harvests  :  but  the  earth  is  a  mystery ;  the  earth  will  not  do  what 
we  want  it  to  do.  It  openly  says,  I  will  not  grow  this  crop  ; 
this  year  you  must  change  my  food ;  I  am  tired  of  this  monotony, 
and  I  will  not  move  again.  We  form  associations  to  consider 
the  earth,  to  report  upon  it,  to  take  measurements  and  tempera¬ 
tures,  and  to  arrange  means  to  ends ;  and  there  the  old  earth 
swings  on  in  the  darkness,  now  night,  now  day,  and  must  be 
humoured  like  a  living  thing.  How  dreadful  is  this  place !  This 
is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven. 
The  stones  of  the  field  seem  to  have  a  mind,  and  the  winds 
and  the  stars  to  be  under  a  purpose,  and  to  be  expressing  a 
design.  Then  the  upper  earth — if  I  may  so  call  the  atmosphere 
— for  what  is  it  but  an  upper  and  enlarged  earth  ?  We  may  be 
able  to  do  some  little  thing  with  spade  and  mattock,  with  plough 
and  harrow,  but  what  can  we  do  up  in  the  clouds  ?  There  is  a 
minister  of  wrath  called  the  weather.  We  have  never  been  able 
to  bribe  him,  propitiate  him,  bring  him  within  the  circle  of  our 
influence.  The  weather  has  come  down  upon  our  navies,  and 
broken  them  into  wet  chips.  The  weather  has  stopped  our 
great  steam-horses,  and  said,  No  further  on  this  road  just  now  ! 
It  an  earthquake  had  done  it,  there  would  have  been  some 
harmony  between  the  process  and  the  result ;  but  little  flakes 
of  snow  have  done  it — white  little  wings,  things  that  look  like 
beautiful  insects, — down  they  have  come,  and  down,  until  that 
which  in  detail  weighed  nothing  accumulated  itself  into  millions 
of  tons,  .and  great  steam-horses,  challenging  and  thundering  and 
roaring,  have  had  to  stand  still  before  the  white  opponent,  unable 
to  move  one  inch.  Why,  our  power  is  quite  a  nominal  thing 
after  all.  We  thought  we  were  so  great,  and  yet  the  earth  beats 
us,  or  if  we  win  a  little  success  in  the  soil  and  report  it,  we 
can  do  nothing  in  the  clouds;  we  have  no  ladder  a  hundred 
feet  long,  or  two  hundred  feet  long,  or  five  hundred  feet  long, 
and  if  we  had,  there  is  nothing  to  set  it  against.  After  all,  our 
pride  is  shaken  down,  our  vanity  is  cut  in  two  ;  and  men  who 
have  discovered  a  new  variety  of  crop  for  the  soil  have  to  say 


198 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  x.  11. 


parenthetically,  almost  religiously,  “weather  permitting ”!  When 
Christian  men  charge  reformers  and  empirics  with  inability  to 
touch  the  heart’s  deadly  sore,  they  can  illustrate  their  position  and 
vindicate  their  fear  by  the  littleness  of  the  limit  which  binds  in 
the  power  of  all  men  even  in  matters  terrestrial  and  confessedly 
material.  Mend  the  weather  before  you  mend  human  manners. 
Stop  the  rain  before  you  attempt  by  merely  human  means  to 
stop  the  torrent  of  human  iniquity.  When  you  have  won 
triumphs  in  your  own  world,  we  will  accept  them  as  proofs  that 
you  may  be  able  to  do  some  mightier  thing  on  broader  lines. 

All  things  fight  for  God.  The  hailstones  are  his  friends  and 
allies ;  the  stars  in  their  courses  beat  and  throb  according  to  his 
purpose  and  express  his  intent.  The  bad  cause  has  no  friends ; 
it  comes  to  an  ignominious  end  ;  it  is  overwhelmed  by  hailstones. 
It  is  so  humbling !  If  men  could  have  shown  on  the  forehead  a 
great  scar  made  by  a  gleaming  sword  swung  by  the  arms  of  a 
Hercules — a  very  giant  in  stature  and  strength — we  should  have 
said,  Well,  you  had  a  foeman  worthy  of  your  steel ;  it  is  equal 
to  a  victory  to  have  been  felled  by  that  man.  You  come  in 
under  stress  of  weather.  Hailstones  !  you  beaten  back  by  hail¬ 
stones  ?  Yes  !  Why  then  there  is  no  glory  in  it,  not  a  whit. 
Come  back  because  of  the  weather?  Yes.  Well,  that  is  very 
crushing.  Exceedingly  so.  But  you  are  a  man  ;  why  didn’t  you 
“  stand  up  like  a  man  ”  ?  I  did,  but  the  hailstones  knocked  me 
down  1  Why  is  it  so  ?  All  the  world  over.  You  cannot  lock 
the  hail  up.  You  cannot  find  a  shutter  that  will  certainly  keep 
the  lightning  on  the  outside  :  God  takes  the  hasp  off  after  we 
have  shut  up  the  front-door.  Consider  the  ignominy  of  the  end  ! 
To  be  slain  with  a  sword  is  to  meet  a  soldier’s  fate ;  to  be  killed 
with  hailstones  is  to  be  treated  as  an  inferior  creature — is  to  feel 
the  contempt  of  an  invisible  and  infinite  enemy. 

These  are  the  strongholds  and  grounds  of  the  Christian  attack. 
We  are  not  speaking  to  men,  you  see,  who  can  walk  as  if  with 
the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  make  the  clouds  the  dust  of  their  feet, 
and  bring  in  the  spring  when  they  please,  and  detain  the  summer 
as  long  as  they  have  a  mind  to  detain  that  shining  guest;  we 
are  speaking  to  men,  however  great  or  little, — to  men  who  have 
to  make  careful  parentheses  and  reservations  in  their  boldest 
talk ;  to  men  whose  triumphant  essays  are  wetted  through  and 


Josh.  x.  ii.]  THE  LORD'S  ARTILLERY. 


199 


drenched  by  God’s  snow,  so  that  they  cannot  read  their  own 
writing.  “Acquaint  now  thyself  with  him,  and  be  at  peace.” 
There  is  only  one  safe  motion,  only  one  astronomic  rhythm,  and 
if  you  get  out  of  beat  and  harmony  with  that,  you  are  at  war 
with  God.  A  short  fight  is  his  who  encounters  gravitation.  For 
a  moment  he  may  leap,  but  he  will  soon  lie  down  ;  for  a  little 
while  he  may  seem  as  if  master  of  the  situation,  but  the  great 
serene  law  moves  on  and  flattens  whatever  opposes  its  tranquil 
operation.  “  Acquaint  now  thyself  with  him,  and  be  at  peace.” 

The  bad  cause  perishes  in  contempt.  The  five  kings  ran  away 
and  hid  .themselves  in  a  cave,  and  Joshua  said,  Bring  them  out  1 
and  to  the  men  of  Israel,  Put  your  feet  upon  their  necks  ;  and  the 
men  of  Israel  put  their  feet  upon  the  necks  of  the  kings  ;  and  he 
said,  Now  hang  them  upon  trees  ;  and  the  men  of  Israel  hanged 
the  five  kings  upon  five  trees,  and  at  the  evening  hour  cut  them 
down  and  threw  them  into  the  very  cave  in  which  they  had 
hidden  themselves,  and  laid  great  stones  against  the  mouth  of  the 
cave,  and  there  they  are  until  this  day.  The  great  life-lesson 
running  out  of  all  this  ancient  history  is  :  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  “  Acquaint  now  thyself 
with  him,  and  be  at  peace.”  No  hailstone  ever  ranked  itself  on 
the  bad  side.  No  rain  ever  offered  itself  to  help  the  bad  man. 
Though  it  may  appear  to  have  done  so  incidentally,  it  never  did 
so  finally ;  and  the  stones  will  be  faithful  unto  the  last.  There 
shall  come  a  day  when  men  shall  say  to  the  rocks  and  to  the 
mountains,  “Fall  on  us,”  and  rock  and  mountain  will  stand  with¬ 
out  a  sign.  “  Hide  us  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  !  ” — and  the 
rock  and  the  mountain  will  stand  upon  their  foundations  without 
a  quiver  or  a  spasm.  “  Acquaint  now  thyself  with  him,  and 
be  at  peace.”  This  is  science :  we  are  invited  into  the  astro¬ 
nomic  movement.  It  is  the  call  of  gravitation,  not  of  specula¬ 
tive  theology.  It  is  the  music  of  the  spheres,  not  some  hymn 
of  despicable  sentiment.  What  say  you  ?  To  be  with  Christ, 
with  God,  is  to  be  in  the  laws  of  gravitation.  Have  you  any 
objection  to  that  ?  It  is  to  be  marching  step  for  step.  Have  you 
any  complaint  to  make  against  that  appeal  ?  Why  try  to  go  the 
other  way  when  all  the  gates  are  locked  and  the  keys  are  not 
to  be  found  ?  Why  not  have  on  our  side  God,  and  all  that  God 
implies  and  involves — the  whole  mystery  of  power  and  grace. 


200 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  x.  ii. 


righteousness  and  wisdom  ?  Then  we  shall  know  what  it  is  to 
triumph.  We  shall  hear  a  voice  behind  us  and  within  us  say, 
It  is  God  that  justifieth,  who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  It  is 
Christ  that  died,  yea,  rather,  that  is  risen  again.”  Who  shall  lay 
anything  to  the  charge  of  those  who  are  in  rhythm  with  God  ? 
The  appeal  seems  to  me  so  based  on  all  that  is  true  in  science,  in 
nature,  in  the  reality  and  necessity  of  things,  that  but  for  the 
miracle  which  we  indicated  at  the  outset,  it  would  seem  impossible 
but  that  every  man  should  rise  and  say,  I  will  be  on  the  Lord’s 
side,  I  will  live  by  the  divine  movement,  I  will  find  peace  with 
God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  That  is  what  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  do.  He  found  we  were  opposing  the  law  of  spiritual 
gravitation;  trying  to  create  a  universe  of  our  own,  and  only 
making  a  hell ;  trying  to  silence  music  by  discord,  and  being  lost 
in  the  tumult  which  we  made.  He  is  our  peace.  In  him  we 
are  safe  evermore.  When  the  hail  pours  down,  it  will  be  upon 
the  enemy,  not  upon  the  friend  ;  and  when  the  lightning  gleams 
and  blazes  and  burns,  it  shall  not  come  nigh  the  heart  that  rests 
in  the  Cross — in  the  infinite  mystery  of  the  infinite  atonement. 
Bad  man,  you  can  go  on  a  while  if  you  like,  but  not  for  long  :  the 
hail  is  against  you.  You  can  make  yourself  so  trusted  as  to  be 
allowed  to  go  and  change  the  securities  and  rob  the  strong-box, 
but  not  for  long :  nature  has  her  eye  upon  you,  the  constables  of 
the  universe  are  on  your  track.  You  can  succeed  for  a  while, 
you  can  do  wonders  for  a  while,  but  only  for  a  while ;  you  will 
be  hanged,  cut  down,  ruthlessly  and  contemptuously  flung  into  a 
cave,  and  be  forgotten.  Do  not  imagine  that  your  course  is  quite 
run  yet :  you  may  have  twenty-four  hours  more ;  but  the  hand 
from  which  there  is  no  release  is  already  groping  for  you.  There 
is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked.  The  ungodly  are  like 
the  chaff  which  the  wind  driveth  away.  The  triumphing  of  the 
wicked  is  short.  Only  righteousness  is  eternal;  only  honesty 
goes  through  the  weather  without  getting  wet;  only  the  truth 
can  put  out  to  sea  in  any  weather,  plunging  into  the  troughs, 
mounting  up  on  the  billows,  swinging  on  the  crest, — down  again, 
up  again,  but  all  the  time  steering  straight  for  the  green  summer 
shore.  Oh,  go  not  to  sea  in  some  paper  boat  of  your  own 
making !  The  vessel  of  God’s  righteousness  and  love  is  open  to 
us  all.  Let  us  enter.  It  cannot  be  wrecked. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  we  are  alive  this  day  to  praise  thee.  Thou  canst  call  upon 
living  men  to  bear  witness  to  thy  rule  and  thy  care.  Thou  art  not  the  God 
of  the  dead,  but  the  God  of  the  living ;  thou  dost  not  refer  to  the  ancient  time 
beyond  our  memory,  thou  dost  appeal  unto  ourselves,  thou  dost  ask  us  to 
read  the  record  of  our  own  life  and  to  consider  all  the  way  along  which  thou 
hast  conducted  us.  This  we  will  gladly  do.  Herein  is  our  joy,  secret  and 
public.  We  love  to  commune  with  our  own  hearts,  and  to  take  note  of  all 
the  care  thou  hast  shown  unto  us  day  by  day  from  the  first ;  and  we  love  in 
the  open  sanctuary  to  make  public  mention  of  thy  goodness,  and  to  sing  a 
loud  song  unto  God,  and  to  make  a  joyful  noise  unto  the  rock  of  our  salva¬ 
tion.  We  have  seen  thy  goodness,  handled  it,  felt  it,  known  it  in  the  core 
of  the  heart ;  therefore  we  will  not  be  silent,  but  will  magnify  thy  name 
day  by  day,  at  the  entering  in  of  the  city,  in  the  place  of  public  concourse, 
quietly  at  home,  all  but  silently  in  the  chamber  of  sickness  :  but  we  will 
not  forget  thy  benefits,  nor  cease  to  remember  the  mercies  of  God.  Thou 
hast  led  us  by  a  way  that  we  have  not  known.  We  have  come  upon 
strange  names  in  the  outworking  of  our  history;  unfamiliar  places  we  have 
trodden ;  unfriendly  tribes  have  accosted  us  and  encountered  us  with  stub¬ 
born  resistance  ;  we  have  looked  round  for  water  where  there  were  no  wells, 
and  have  gone  out  to  pluck  fruit  where  there  were  no  trees;  and,  behold,  thou 
hast  not  sent  us  back  unrefreshed  or  empty-handed  :  thou  hast  created  foun¬ 
tains  in  the  wilderness,  and  trees  thou  hast  planted  on  the  rocks.  Thou  art 
a  God  of  miracles,  working  wonders  in  light  and  in  darkness.  Thou  dost 
send  unto  us  messages  in  all  the  blowing  winds,  yea,  in  the  cold  and  mighty 
tempest,  and  in  the  gentle  summer  breeze  ;  and  all  the  year  long  thou  dost 
never  forget  us  :  we  are  graven  upon  the  palms  of  thy  hands.  We  will 
magnify  thy  name,  and  praise  it.  New  mercies  shall  create  new  songs;  new 
visions  of  truth  shall  touch  the  soul  into  nobler  praise.  Thus  will  we  spend 
the  few  days  of  our  life,  a  handful  at  the  most,  praying  that  the  last  may 
be  brighter  than  the  first,  yea,  that  the  last  on  earth  may  be  the  first  in 
heaven.  We  pray  that  our  own  life  may  continue  to  be  the  object  of  thy 
care.  We  can  only  live  in  God.  We  can  only  live  in  God  as  we  bear  the 
fruit  which  is  consistent  with  thy  purpose  in  our  creation.  Every  branch 
that  beareth  not  fruit  is  cut  down,  and  cast  away,  and  burned  in  the  fire. 
We  would  bear  fruit  unto  thy  glory :  we  would  have  living  minds,  clean 
hearts,  responsive  spirits,  industrious  hands,  souls  that  live  in  prayer;  the 
Lord  grant  unto  us  our  heart’s  desire!  For  thy  Book  we  daily  bless  thee  :  it 
is  brighter  than  the  morning ;  it  is  fuller  of  truth  than  the  night  is  full  of 
stars.  Help  us  to  read  it  patiently,  sympathetically,  devoutly ;  whilst  we 
read,  may  the  Writer  himself  be  present,  the  inspiring  Holy  Spirit,  that  so  the 


202 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  x.  12-43. 


inspired  reader  may  peruse  the  inspired  writing,  and  in  thy  light  see  light, 
and  behold  and  wonder  at  the  ever-expanding  revelation  of  God.  Be  with 
us  wherever  we  are  in  the  twelve  hours  of  the  day  and  the  twelve  hours  of 
the  night.  Make  our  bread  pleasant  to  our  eating;  grant  a  blessing  upon 
the  water  we  drink  from  the  streams  which  descend  from  heaven;  give 
us  the  apt  mind  in  business,  the  clear  head,  the  eye  that  sees  afar,  the 
sensitiveness  which  men  knowing  not  God  cannot  explain  ;  be  with  us  in  all 
family  darkness,  trouble,  bereavement :  when  sickness  comes,  or  loss,  or  bare 
poverty,  may  we  find  room  for  them,  because  they  may  be  angels  in  disguise. 
Direct  us  in  all  our  path ;  give  us  the  right  word  when  a  sudden  answer  is 
demanded  ;  save  us  from  mental  perplexity  when  besieged  by  an  unrighteous 
ability;  the  Lord  give  us  steadfastness  and  love  of  truth  in  the  soul,  and  the 
incorruptible  sincerity  which  burns  all  evil  and  finds  its  way  to  God  through 
storm  and  cloud,  through  rock  and  desert  and  difficulty.  Send  a  plentiful 
rain  upon  thine  inheritance ;  bless  thy  people  with  peace  ;  crown  their  lives 
with  forgiveness.  Above  all,  make  us  like  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  brightness 
of  thy  glory,  express  image  of  thy  person;  may  we  in  our  degree  be  beauti¬ 
ful  as  he  :  pure  and  noble  and  self-surrendering;  may  we  know  somewhat  of 
the  mystery  of  his  Cross,  the  pathos  of  his  suffering,  the  atonement  which 
he  wrought  out  in  the  mystery  and  passion  of  love.  For  his  sake,  hear  us; 
for  his  sake,  bless  us ;  for  his  sake,  withhold  not  any  good  thing  from  us. 
Amen. 


Joshua  x.  12-43. 
FIVE  MODERN  KINGS. 


E  are  now  travelling  in  the  midst  of  wars  and  rumours  of 


V  V  wars  in  our  progress  through  these  sacred  pages.  The 
reading  is  very  exciting  and  distressing.  Every  page  is  a  battle¬ 
field,  and  every  sentence  is  like  a  stain  of  blood.  Our  distress 
can  only  be  mitigated  by  taking  in  great  breadths  of  time  and 
viewing  the  course  of  Providence,  not  in  detail,  but  in  entirety, 
as  a  stupendous  and  well-composed  unity.  This  is  the  law  of 
just  judgment  in  all  life,  so  we  are  not  creating  a  law  for  special 
application  to  exceptional  circumstances.  We  do  not  fully  know 
why  this  waste  of  human  life  was  made.  But  why  say  u  was  ” 
made,  as  if  referring  to  an  exhausted  history  ?  We  need 
not  speak  in  the  past  tense,  but  in  the  present,  for  this  same 
waste  of  life  is  made,  in  some  form  or  other,  every  day,  and 
seems  to  be  part  of  the  very  law  of  progress.  We  cannot  under¬ 
stand  it.  We  are  not  called  upon  to  defend  it.  We  must 
seriously  stop  and  consider  it.  But  there  is  the  law  :  peace 
comes  through  battle,  and  life  through  death.  Every  garden  is 
only  a  planted  cemetery.  Wherever  you  set  your  foot,  you  set  it 


Josh.  x.  12-43.]  FIVE  MODERN  KINGS. 


203 


upon  death.  Who  can  understand  the  philosophy  of  destruction, 
the  apparent  wastefulness  of  God  ?  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  destruction  is  unnecessary.  Every  day  slays  its  countless 
thousands.  War  is  not  a  term  definable  by  one  word,  nor  is  it 
confined  to  one  set  of  circumstances ;  it  is  at  the  very  heart  of  all 
imperfect  and  yet  developing  things.  Life  lives  upon  life.  Blood 
is  renewed  by  blood.  A  great  mystery  this  and  a  tragedy  that 
expresses  infinite  pain.  But  such  is  the  devouring  rapacity  of 
life.  It  cannot  live  upon  dead  things.  Life  must  live  upon  life, 
— cannibalism,  not  regulated,  directed,  and  brought  under  some 
law  of  sanctification, — a  great  fact,  a  solemn  and  terrible  thing! 
What  a  hunger  it  is  that  gnaws  our  being  ;  it  would  soon  develop 
itself  into  cruelty  if  civilisation  did  not  limit  it,  and  supply  it 
with  what  it  wants.  No  fire  could  deter  it ;  no  force  could 
restrain  it ;  it  must  be  appeased  from  heaven.  Which  is  to  be 
uppermost?  is  the  question  of  all  life.  What  is  to  be  upper¬ 
most  ?  is  the  question  of  Heaven,  and  God  has  declared  for  the 
righteous.  So  righteousness  will  win,  and  purity  will  sit  upon 
the  throne  that  is  everlasting.  We  know  all  this,  in  part,  without 
the  Bible.  There  are  many  bibles  upon  this  subject.  Men  have 
written  revelations  who  never  suspected  what  they  were  doing. 
They  described  their  exercises  by  quite  other  and  inferior  terms, 
namely  :  they  were  observing,  collating,  laying  down  a  basis  of 
induction  ;  but  do  what  they  may,  they  all  end  in  law,  and  the 
law  would  seem  to  be  :  destruction  necessary  to  life,  the  out- 
crowding  of  some  by  others, — “  the  survival  of  the  fittest.”  This 
is  not  the  day  of  judgment  upon  which  we  can  settle  all  these 
things,  giving  fully-matured  opinions  upon  them  and  disposing  of 
them  decisively  and  finally.  Thank  God,  we  are  permitted  to 
speak  as  we  think, — that  is  to  say,  God  permits  speech  to  relieve 
thinking;  so  men  publish  immature  books,  speakers  deliver 
immature  speeches  ;  but  their  books  and  speeches  are  not  to  be 
regarded  as  final  and  unchangeable.  Revelation  is  a  growing 
quantity.  Biblical  interpretation  is  a  progressive  science.  The 
observation  of  human  life  expands  and  clears  and  enlarges. 
Who,  then,  shall  bind  any  man  to  his  own  punctuation,  or  search 
the  foregone  pages  to  charge  him  with  inconsistency  ?  No  man 
thinks  two  days  alike.  To-morrow  is  not  responsible  for  this 
day,  forasmuch  as  it  will  bring  its  own  evil  and  its  own  good, 


204 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE .  [Josh.x.  12-43. 


its  own  light  and  its  own  darkness.  It  is  needful  to  remember 
these  things  in  reading  the  ancient  books  of  Scripture,  for  they 
are  full  of  terror  and  battle  and  cruelty  and  destruction  and 
oppression  and  wrong,  in  many  a  detail,  showing  how  easily  the 
best  men  were  tempted,  how  soon  the  noblest  men  fell  into 
miserable  humiliations,  and  how  even  women  and  children  and 
innocent  persons  were  borne  down  by  a  tremendous  rush,  as  if 
the  impulse  were  from  heaven. 

What  use,  then,  can  we  make  of  these  ancient  instances  ?  We 
can  make  great  and  profitable  use  of  them  if  we  be  so  minded. 
Before  attempting  to  make  some  use  of  this  incident,  let  us  be 
thankful  that  the  mystery  of  the  sun  standing  still,  and  the  moon 
being  stayed  until  the  people  had  avenged  themselves  upon  their 
enemies,  has  been  cleared  up.  What  battles  have  been  fought 
about  these  words  !  How  astronomy  has  been  subpoenaed  as  a 
witness,  and  all  nature  been  forced  into  court !  It  was  quite  need¬ 
less — as  is  much  of  the  clamour  and  debate  raging  round  strange 
things  in  the  Bible.  The  writer  himself  asks,  “  Is  not  this  written 
in  the  book  of  Jasher  ? — So  the  sun  stood  still  in  the  midst  of 
heaven,  and  hasted  not  to  go  down  about  a  whole  day.”  It  was 
written  in  a  poetical  book  as  a  grand  instance  of  sublime  imagin¬ 
ing.  It  was  as  if  it  had  been  so.  It  appeared  as  if  this  battle 
must  be  fought  out  before  eventide,  and  as  if,  strangely,  men 
had  so  fought  and  so  won  that  the  great  issue  was  completed 
before  the  setting  of  the  sun.  The  instance  is  specially  referred 
to  even  upon  this  page  as  a  quotation  from  a  poetical  book ; 
so  there  need  not  be  any  solemn  summoning  of  astronomic 
science  to  contradict  what  has  never  been  asserted. 

Now  we  come  to  the  slaying  of  the  kings — the  king  of 
Jerusalem,  the  king  of  Hebron,  the  king  of  Jarmuth,  the  king 
of  Lachish,  and  the  king  of  Eglon.  They  were  immured  in  a 
cave ;  they  were  kept  for  further  uses :  they  were  hanged  upon  a 
tree ;  they  were  burnt  and  condemned.  Are  there  not  five  kings 
— yea,  fifty,  yea,  countless  hundreds — with  whom  we  can  do  this 
very  same  thing — kill  them,  hang  them,  bury  them  ?  We  have 
come  to  spiritual  battlefields.  The  weapons  of  our  warfare  are 
not  carnal ;  we  wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against 
principalities  and  spiritual  powers — invisible,  but  tremendous  in 


Josh.  x.  12-43.]  FIVE  MODERN  KINGS. 


205 


strength,  nor  less  tremendous  in  subtlety.  We  are  not  straining 
the  instance  by  pausing  to  consider  the  meanings  of  the  names  of 
the  places  connected  with  the  names  of  the  king, — such  as  the 
king  of  Jerusalem,  the  king  of  Hebron,  the  king  of  Jarmuth,  the 
king  of  Lachish,  the  king  of  Eglon.  The  names  of  the  places 
may  help  us  to  consider  the  nature  of  their  respective  kings. 

“The  king  of  Jerusalem.”  That  such  a  king  should  have  been 
slain  works  violently  in  our  memory  and  whole  thought,  for 
“Jerusalem  ”  means  peace — the  city  of  peace,  the  restful  city,  the 
sabbatic  metropolis,  the  home  of  rest.  But  is  there  not  a  false 
peace  ?  If  we  could  not  bring  some  good  words  into  our  use  and 
qualify  them  by  bad  names,  the  case  of  the  wicked  man  would 
be  simply  intolerable  :  the  little  truth  he  does  tell,  makes  way  for 
the  much  falsehood  he  wishes  to  propagate.  Is  there,  then,  not  a 
false  peace  ?  Do  we  not  hear  men  crying,  Peace,  peace,  where 
there  is  no  peace  ?  Is  it  not  possible  to  daub  the  wall  with  untem¬ 
pered  mortar  ?  Do  we  not  create  a  wilderness,  and  call  it  peace  ? 
By  banishing  all  anxieties,  by  stifling  the  voices  within  us  that 
call  to  righteousness  and  truth  and  purity,  by  occupying  the 
mind  with  other  things,  do  we  not  suppose  that  we  have  entered 
into  peace  enough  and  realised  all  the  rest  we  need  ?  Have  we 
not  shut  out  the  light,  and  said,  There  is  none  ?  Have  we  not 
given  an  opiate  to  conscience,  and  then  said  our  life  is  going 
forward  without  rebuke  ?  Have  we  not  declined  to  discuss 
certain  things,  and  therefore  imagined  that  the  things  are  not  open 
to  discussion  ?  We  have  wronged  our  own  souls  in  this  matter. 
It  is  pitiful,  yea,  heart-rending,  to  mark  how  prone  we  are  to 
close  our  eyes  and  consider  that,  because  we  have  excluded  the 
sense  of  danger,  we  have  destroyed  its  presence.  The  king  ot 
false  peace  must  be  slain.  He  has  ruled  over  some  of  us  too 
long.  He  has  lived  upon  us,  plundered  us  with  both  hands,  and 
all  the  while  flattered  us,  until  we  have  lost  all  power  to  criticise 
his  baleful  sovereignty.  When  men  are  not  real  with  themselves, 
the  case  is  hopeless.  And  who  is  real  with  himself?  Who  can 
take  out  his  very  heart,  as  it  were,  and  analyse  it,  sift  its  motives, 
cross-examine  its  purposes,  and  test  its  half-spoken  words  ?  On 
all  subjects  of  this  kind  we  can  but  ask  the  piercing  question ;  it 
lies  with  every  man  to  return  the  honest  answer. 


206 


THE  PEOPLE' S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  x.  12-43. 


il  Hebron”  means  conjunction,  joining,  alliance.  Is  not  the 
king  of  false  fellowship  to  be  killed  ?  What  concord  hath  Christ 
with  Belial  ?  Why  these  ill-assorted  marriages  in  life, — not  mar¬ 
riages  of  a  merely  human  and  social  kind,  but  all  kinds  of  unions, 
fellowships,  alliances,  partnerships,  that  are  founded  upon  rotten¬ 
ness,  and  are  meant  to  mislead  and  deceive  ?  What  fellowship  hath 
light  with  darkness  ?  Yet  we  are  beguiled  into  such  associations, 
and  we  enter  into  them  so  gradually  and  in  some  cases  so  unsus¬ 
pectingly  that  we  hardly  realise  our  relation  to  the  false  and  the 
abominable  until  it  is  completed  and  sealed.  God  has  always 
been  against  unholy  alliances.  Many  a  man  he  has,  so  to  say, 
arrested  with  the  words,  Why  this  conjunction  ?  What  right  have 
you  to  be  here,  pledging  your  character  to  sustain  a  known 
dishonesty  ?  Why  do  you  throw  your  respectability  over  this 
rottenness  ?  But  who  can  be  true  to  himself  and  to  God  in  this 
matter  ?  Because  we  unite  at  certain  parts  or  points  of  character, 
therefore  we  imagine  that  we  do  not  include  the  whole  line, 
and  we  decline  responsibility  in  proportion  to  the  number  01 
points  which  our  closure  does  not  include.  This  is  trifling  with 
life ;  this  is  making  a  fool  of  conscience ;  this  is  giving  to  the 
moral  power  within  us  a  dread  narcotic  :  and  we  know  it,  and  to 
pray  after  it  is  to  crown  our  profanity  with  a  lie.  u  Come  out 
from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate/’  saith  the  Lord.  It  is  very 
difficult  to  be  associated  with  some  men  merely  for  a  temporary 
purpose,  and  then  to  leave  them  as  if  the  association  had  never 
existed.  Oftentimes  that  cannot  be  done.  A  certain  contagion 
has  operated,  and  although  the  formal  association  may  be  dissolved, 
the  results  of  it  may  abide  and  express  themselves  in  many 
insidious,  but  emphatic  ways.  Here,  again,  detail  is  out  of  the 
question.  It  is  only  possible  to  put  the  inquiry  sharply,  unflinch¬ 
ingly,  and  to  leave  every  man  to  find  out  where  he  is,  and  why 
he  is  there.  You  may  pay  too  much  for  high  fellowships.  A 
man  may  pay  his  soul  as  the  price  of  being  allowed  to  go  into  a 
saloon  ;  he  may  pay  his  manhood,  he  may  pay  his  conscience.  To 
spend  a  giddy  half-hour  in  the  gas-lighted  saloon,  he  may  be 
compelled  to  leave  himself  outside,  that  he  may  emptily  and  self- 
renouncingly  play  the  fool  in  what  he  calls  Society.  That  rule 
applies  to  all  life,  to  all  business,  to  all  social  fellowships,  to  all 
temporary  associations.  Have  nothing  to  do  with  bad  men,  even 


Josh.  X.  12-43.]  FIVE  MODERN  KINGS. 


207 


though  the  purpose  for  which  they  seek  your  association  is  itself 
good.  Do  not  believe  any  Scripture  which  the  devil  quotes  to 
you.  It  ceases  to  be  Scripture  in  his  vile  lips.  He  spoils  all 
beauty,  all  loveliness,  all  honour.  Take  the  same  Scripture  from 
the  fountain,  and  carry  it  out ;  but  do  not  say,  He  has  quoted 
Scripture,  and  my  relation  to  him  is  only  that  which  ought  to 
subsist  between  myself  and  a  quoter  of  Scripture.  We  must  have 
cleanness  of  conjunction,  purity  and  reality  of  alliance,  meeting 
on  sympathetic  ground.  Even  the  Church  of  Christ,  as  constituted 
in  some  places,  may  be  wrong  in  this  particular. 

And  the  king  of  Jarmuth.  The  word  means  high,  that  which 
is  lifted  up.  And  is  not  the  king  of  false  ambition  to  be  slain  and 
then  hanged — to  have  contempt  added  to  murder  ?  Contempt  is 
never  so  well  expended  as  upon  false  ambition.  This  false 
ambition  is  killing  many  people.  They  do  not  see  how  foolish  it 
is  to  be  living  under  king  Jarmuth.  Why  live  a  strained  life — 
always  trying  to  reach  something  that  is  just  half  an  inch  beyond 

your  stretching  power  ?  If  you  were  trying  to  seize  the  stars, 

« 

men  would  simply  smile  upon  you  as  imbeciles.  It  is  the  odd 
'half-inch  that  deceives  you,  makes  you  think  that,  because  it  is 
only  half  an  inch,  surely  you  may  reach  it  and  use  it.  That  is  a 
false  law  of  life.  It  means  ruin.  Whilst  you  are  so  stretching 
yourselves  beyond  your  due  proportion,  men  are  robbing  every 
pocket  you  have,  and  you  do  not  know  it;  cutting  the  ground 
from  under  your  feet,  and  you  are  not  aware  of  it ;  and  you 
yourselves  are  losing  power  to  do  the  simple,  real,  needy  business 
of  life  with  both  hands  and  undivided  strength.  The  temptation 
to  be  just  a  little  more  than  we  are  is  the  temptation  we  read  of 
in  the  garden  of  Eden  : — Eat,  says  the  serpent,  of  that  tree,  “  and 
ye  shall  be  as  gods,” — ye  shall  go  into  another  kind  of  society, 
into  a  saloon  higher  up,  larger,  and  better  lighted ;  put  forth  your 
hands,  eat  freely,  and  become  “  as  gods.”  See  if  the  serpent  is 
not  still  deceiving  society  by  this  very  suggestion.  Who  can 
live  simply  and  lovingly  within  the  lines  of  his  own  conscious 
strength,  and  do  the  work  which  God  has  obviously  designed  him 
to  do  ?  It  is  when  the  wish  to  do  something  else  and  something 
better  comes  in,  that  many  a  man  is  thrown  down  and  loses  what 
strength  he  has,  much  or  little,  as  the  case  may  be. 


2o8 


2 HE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE .  [Josh.  x.  12-43. 


Then  the  king  of  Lachish.  The  word  means  hard  to  be 
captured,  almost  out  of  reach,  or  so  defended  that  it  will  be 
almost  impossible  to  get  at  the  king.  Is  not  the  king  of  fancied 
security  to  be  slain  and  hanged  ?  We  say  it  is  impossible  to 
penetrate  to  our  hiding-place  and  dislodge  us  from  our  ramparts, 
not  knowing  that  our  ramparts,  which  are  supposed  to  be  made 
of  granite,  are  constituted  but  of  ice,  and  the  rising  sun  shall 
not  smite  them,  but  dissolve  them,  and  they  shall  stream  away 
from  us  and  leave  us  exposed  to  every  dart  and  every  stroke 
of  the  assailant.  What  is  our  security  ?  Not  money,  I  hope  : 
for  riches  take  to  themselves  wings  and  fly  away.  Not  physical 
strength,  I  hope  :  for  even  Samson  has  had  his  energy  drawn 
out  of  him,  and  has  been  left  a  giant  in  carcase,  but  a  cripple  in 
power.  Not  ancestry,  I  hope :  for  who  would  live  upon  the  dead 
and  wear  the  respectabilities  of  an  exhausted  generation  ?  There 
is  only  one  security,  and  that  is  harmony  with  God,  peace  with 
Heaven,  identification  with  righteousness,  the  absorption  of  the 
little  imperfect  will  with  the  infinite  will  of  God.  You  have  seen 
the  wicked  in  great  power,  spreading  himself  like  a  green  bay- 
tree  :  yet  he  passed  away,  and,  lo,  he  was  not,  yea,  you  sought 
him,  and  he  could  not  be  found.  The  mystery  was  that  there 
was  no  violence  ;  there  was  no  record  of  the  decadence  in  the 
newspaper  of  the.  day.  It  was  a  mystery.  The  man  changed  : 
his  mental  power  deserted  him  :  he  put  out  his  hands  to  take 
something  when  there  was  nothing  to  be  seized ;  he  spoke, 
as  it  were,  upside  down,  in  confusion  that  would  have  amused 
you  if  it  had  not  too  much  distressed  your  sensibilities.  He 
lost,  he  reeled,  he  groped  at  noonday,  he  went  back  to  find 
his  rampart,  and,  behold,  it  was  gone  !  This  we  have  seen  in 
life  in  countless  cases  ;  but  if  we  have  only  seen  it,  the  sight 
will  do  us  little  good  :  such  visions  should  be  laid  to  heart. 

King  of  Eglon.  The  word  “  Eglon  ”  means  pertaining  to  a 
calf,  and  may  be  taken  as  representing  the  whole  system  of 
false  worship.  A  great  mocking  voice  is  heard  in  one  of  the 
minor  prophets,  saying,  u  Thy  calf,  O  Samaria,  hath  cast  thee 
off.”  It  is  the  way  of  false  gods  :  they  betray  their  worshippers  ; 
they  withdraw  themselves  when  danger  crowds  the  scene  with 
innumerable  hostilities ;  they  will  do  in  the  sunshine — that  is 


Josh.  x.  12-43.]  FIVE  MODERN  KINGS. 


209 


to  saj7,  they  will  do  when  there  is  nothing  to  be  done ;  but 
they  have  no  biding  pith,  no  staying  power,  no  quality  divine. 
Such  is  the  difference  between  men.  Under  some  circumstances 
the  men  are,  as  it  were,  equal — equal  in  pleasantness,  in 
cheerfulness,  and  willingness  to  assist ;  but  some  of  them  can 
bear  no  strain  :  so  long  as  the  whole  business  can  be  done  by 
assurances  that  are  without  security,  they  are  willing  that  the 
whole  business  should  be  completed.  Men  are  known  by  their 
staying  power.  Many  a  man  walks  the  first  mile  as  if  he 
were  treading  upon  air.  It  is  a  kind  of  exercise  in  levitation, 
rather  than  in  ponderous  and  literal  walking.  But  there  are 
ten  miles  to  be  walked.  The  se:ond  mile  sees  a  difference; 
the  third  mile  excites  pity  in  the  beholder  :  the  man  was  never 
made  for  that  task.  So  it  is  with  false  worship,  with  imperfect 
worship,  with  fancy  worship.  There  are  men  who  worship 
reason ;  but  reason  never  worships  them  or  trusts  them  :  it 
does  but  coldly  smile  upon  them  and  wonder  at  their  philosophic 
insanity.  And  there  are  those  who  worship  gold  and  fame  and 
honour  and  ease  ;  and  these  base  deities  cast  them  off  at  even¬ 
tide.  Be  right  in  worship,  if  you  would  be  right  in  character. 
Be  right  in  religious  conviction,  if  you  would  be  right  along  the 
whole  line  of  life  and  equally  strong  at  every  point. 

Joshua,  having  slain  these  kings,  goes  upon  his  conquering 
way.  Joshua  said,  in  effect,  There  are  not  only  five  kings  to  be 
killed,  but  more  and  more,  a  line  of  kings,  far  as  the  eye  can 
see.  So,  soldier-like,  captain  of  God,  he  passed  on  from  Makkedah 
to  Libnah,  from  Libnah  to  Lachish,  from  Lachish  to  Eglon,  from 
Eglon  to  Hebron ;  and  there  we  lose  sight  of  him  for  a  moment. 
His  sword  is  up,  his  eyes  aflame,  and  he  is  the  captain  of 
the  Lord  towards  all  “  devoted  ”  things.  And  on,  too,  we  must 
go — on  from  evil  to  evil,  until  the  last  bad  king  is  slain  :  on 
from  habit  to  habit  till  the  whole  character  is  purified  :  on 
until  the  whole  life  is  cleansed ;  and  this  sweet  old  earth,  so 
debased,  so  ill-used,  shall  become,  in  every  land,  in  every  clime, 
beautiful  as  a  palace  built  for  God, 


VOL.  V. 


H 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  we  pray  with  our  hearts  because  thou  hast  taught  us  to  pray, 
and  we  know  that  in  heart-prayer  the  answer  is  found  in  the  very  petition 
itself.  We  are  cleansed  by  this  exercise ;  our  mouth  is  purified  and  our  lips 
are  made  clean.  How  can  we  speak  the  name  of  God,  and  then  speak  any 
other  name  that  is  not  related  to  it  by  pureness  or  by  love  ?  How  can  we 
lift  up  our  eyes  unto  heaven  to  behold  the  revelation  of  light,  and  then  turn 
them  downwards  to  look  upon  anything  which  that  light  has  not  created  and 
approved?  So  thou  dost  make  us  better  by  our  praying;  we  feel  the 
stronger  after  we  have  spoken  to  God.  Thou  dost  draw  nigh  unto  those 
that  address  thee;  thou  dost  put  out  thine  hand  towards  them,  and  in  thine 
'hand  is  the  sceptre  of  gold.  We  come  by  the  way  of  the  Cross.  We  have 
tried  other  ways,  and  they  end  in  cloud  and  nothingness  :but  the  way  of  the 
•  Cross  is  a  way  straight  up  to  heaven  ;  we  meet  angels  upon  the  road  and  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect, — a  sweet  and  innumerable  companionship  of 
souls :  all  the  dear  friends  we  have  lost,  and  the  brave  comrades,  and  the 
crowned  ones  of  every  name  and  quality  whom  we  have  known  and  with 
whom  we  have  consorted  ;  they  have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them 
white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  So  we  form  one  host :  part  of  it  in  heaven, 
part  of  it  on  earth ;  still,  we  are  one  family  in  Christ,  and  we  shall  all  be 
brought  together  into  the  larger  house,  and  stand  night  and  day  in  thy 
presence,  whose  look  is  heaven,  whose  breath  is  peace.  For  religious  hopes 
we  bless  thee  :  they  sing  in  the  soul  like  angels  from  heaven  ;  they  make  the 
night  as  the  morning,  and  the  morning  they  make  as  sevenfold  noontide  in 
the  summer-time.  We  thank  thee  for  them  ;  they  drive  away  dejection  and 
fear  and  solitariness  and  all  evil.  We  pray  thee  to  multiply  these  hopes; 
increase  not  only  their  number,  but  their  radiance,  and  in  their  light  we  shall 
work  industriously  and  hopefully,  and  every  hour  shall  create  its  own  heaven. 
The  days  are  few  with  many  now  before  thee,  because  the  pilgrims  are 
hastening  quickly  to  the  end.  The  end  may  be  to-morrow ;  the  end  may  be 
to-night ;  the  end  cannot  be  far  off,  by  reason  of  natural  weakness  and  the 
increase  of  days.  Some  are  young,  and  full  of  hope  and  high  life  and  hot 
'blood, — brave  and  chivalrous  when  good,  but  desperate  and  evil-minded 
when  under  the  inspiration  of  the  devil ;  the  Lord  send  a  message  to  such — 
a  great  gospel  of  love  that  shall  seize  the  attention,  attract  the  confidence, 
and  save  the  soul.  Help  the  young  man  in  his  struggle;  it  goes  hardly  with 
him  sometimes.  Now  and  again  he  is  quite  down,  and  but  for  thy  touch  he 
would  remain  there  a  dead  man.  Save  him  in  the  time  of  peril !  Kill  the 
tempter  that  sits  beside  his  ear  to  speak  as  he  may  be  able  to  receive  the 
bad  communication.  Some  are  engaged  in  good  service  :  the  Lord  help 


Josh.  xi.  1-5.]  TYPES  OF  CHRISTIAN  WARFARE. 


211 


them ;  their  heaven  is  in  Christian  toil ;  their  delight  expresses  itself  in 
sacrificial  labour.  Give  them  courage  and  good  cheer,  and  may  they  be  able 
again  to  draw  together  their  whole  strength,  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  for 
the  sake  of  his  Cross,  and  to  go  out  and  do  valiantly  for  the  Son  of  God.  The 
Lord  hear  us  when  we  pray,  and  be  patient  with  us  in  our  best  endeavours. 
Pity  our  littlenesses  and  vanities  and  mean  conceits.  Pity  us  wherein  we 
carry  diseases,  distresses  of  mind  or  body,  brought  upon  us  by  no  blame  of 
our  own ;  when  the  evil  rises  within  us,  consider  our  estate,  we  beseech 
thee,  and  remember  whence  we  sprang  and  through  what  course  we  have 
come  in  all  the  ages  gone.  Take  us  into  thine  arms ;  give  us  rest  awhile 
from  storm  and  strife;  quiet  us  with  thy  peace,  thou  tranquil  one;  and  all 
this  and  more  immeasurably  do  thou  accomplish  for  us,  because  we  pray  in 
the  name  which  must  prevail.  Amen. 


Joshua  xi. 


TYPES  OF  CHRISTIAN  WARFARE. 


GAIN  there  seems  to  be  nothing  for  us  in  these  historical 


records.  Yet,  properly  understood,  these  records  were 
only  written  yesterday,  as  if  with  ink  of  our  own  making, 
and  by  hands  that  are  writing  the  story  to-day.  Surely  we 
find  here  types  of  Christian  warfare ;  and  surely  we  find  here 
lessons  by  which  we  may  direct  our  energy,  as  well  as  our 
thought,  in  the  great  conflict  which  is  going  on  as  between 
light  and  darkness,  right  and  wrong,  Christ  and  Belial.  Change 
the  words  only,  and  the  spirit  or  thought  may  remain  without 
modification.  Nothing  has  gone  out  of  this  chapter  but  the 
mere  terms,  the  proper  names  of  men  and  of  places.  The 
law  of  warfare  remains,  because  the  fact  of  warfare  abides; 
and  the  method  of  warfare  is  just  the  same  to-day,  substituting 
spiritual  purposes  for  military  thoughts  and  the  usual  armour 
of  the  battle-field.  This  might  be  substantiated  incidentally  by 
referring  to  the  great  forces  which  are  set  in  array  against  the 
Christ  of  God.  In  the  first  five  verses  of  the  chapter  we  have 
a  statement  of  the  numbers  that  came  out  against  Joshua  : — 

“And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jabin  king  of  Hazor  had  heard  those  things, 
that  he  sent  to  Jobab  king  of  Madon,  and  to  the  king  of  Shimron,  and  to  the 
king  of  Achshaph,  and  to  the  kings  that  were  on  the  north  of  the  mountains, 
and  of  the  plains  south  of  Chinneroth,  and  in  the  valley,  and  in  the  borders 
of  Dor  on  the  west,  and  to  the  Canaanite  on  the  east  and  on  the  west,  and  to 
the  Amorite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Perizzite,  and  the  Jebusite  in  the 
mountains,  and  to  the  Hivite  under  Hermon  in  the  land  of  Mizpeh.  And 


212 


THE  PEOPLE' S  BIBLE .  [Josh.  xi.  1-5. 


they  went  out,  they  and  all  their  hosts  with  them,  much  people,  even  as  the 
sand  that  is  upon  the  sea  shore  in  multitude,  with  horses  and  chariots  very 
many.  And  when  all  these  kings  were  met  together,  they  came  and  pitched 
together  at  the  waters  of  Merom,  to  fight  against  Israel.” 

That  is  a  modern  speech.  The  same  kings,  being  spiritually 
understood,  are  meeting  to-day  in  order  to  fight  the  Son  of 
God.  The  kings  have  almost  always  been  against  him, — not 
the  nominal  kings  only,  as  the  kings  of  nations  and  of  empires, 
but  the  kings  of  influence,  the  kings  of  society,  the  leaders 
of  public  sentiment,  influential  men — scribes,  Pharisees,  rulers, 
and  the  should-be  guides  of  the  people.  The  enemies  of  Christ 
are  very  many  in  number.  We  sometimes  attempt  to  create 
Christian  statistics.  It  is  easier  work  upon  that  side  than 
upon  the  other.  Arithmetic  is  less  distressed  when  called 
upon  to  state  what  good  there  is  in  the  world,  as  represented 
by  communities  and  activities,  than  when  asked  to  give  some 
dim  hint  of  the  evil  that  prevails.  Who  can  give  the  statistics 
of  the  enemy  ?  We  have  made  some  approach  towards  an 
enumeration  of  the  persons  and  activities  identified  with  the 
cause  and  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  where  are  the  black 
books,  the  tables  of  figures  that  would  represent  the  sin,  the 
sorrow,  the  heartbreak,  the  baleful  purpose,  the  selfish  design, 
the  cruel  disposition,  and  all  manner  of  evil  known  amongst 
men  ?  We  are  told  that  there  are  ten  thousand  little  girls  upon 
the  streets  of  London  alone  whose  name  is  associated  with  sin. 
I  do  not  blame  them  altogether.  Judgment  must  not  fall  upon 
them  solely.  What  do  they  represent  ?  They  must  be  taken 
in  their  symbolical  character,  as  well  as  judged  by  their  real 
conduct ;  and  so  taken,  what  is  the  meaning  of  it  all  ?  Who 
can  trace  the  lines  backward  ?  Who  can  fix  those  lines  in  the 
proper  centres  and  personalities,  and  identify  those  who  are 
socially  invisible  with  this  infinite  degradation  ?  We  are  told 
that  if  all  the  drunkeries  of  Britain  were  set  together,  they 
would  make  a  street  six  hundred  miles  long,  and  that  street 
would  be  a  double  street,  having  a  return  line  equal  to  the 
first,  so  that,  if  stretched  out  in  one  continuity,  there  would  be 
twelve  hundred  miles  representing  the  traffic  which  is  doing 
more  to  destroy  the  earth  than  any  other  traffic  which  man 
can  originate  or  invent.  But  what  does  this  represent  ?  The 


Josh.  xi.  1-5.]  TYPES  OF  CHRISTIAN  WARFARE . 


213 


matter  does  not  begin  and  end  in  thronged  buildings,  in  flaming 
windows,  in  flowing  poison ;  there  is  something  behind,  round 
about,  and  until  we  can  get  into  the  atmosphere  of  the  case 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  state  statistically  how  evil  stands. 
As  many  as  the  sand  upon  the  sea-shore  in  multitude  are  they 
who  are  busily  engaged  in  propagating  evil.  The  worst  of  all 
evil  is  the  respectable  evil,  the  well-dressed  wickedness,  the 
haughty,  disdainful  blasphemy  against  all  good  and  truth  and 
love.  The  worst  of  all  evil  is  in  our  own  hearts.  We  are 
prone  to  go  out  in  quest  of  statistics  that  we  may  represent 
how  other  people  are  breaking  the  ten  commandments  and 
offending  the  sanctity  of  Heaven :  “  first  cast  out  the  beam 
out  of  thine  own  eye  ;  and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast 
out  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother’s  eye.”  Is  there  any  irony  more 
pitiable,  is  there  any  irony  less  excusable,  than  our  figuring 
down  upon  paper,  which  we  shock  by  the  very  violence  of  the 
figures,  how  other  people  are  transgressing  the  law,  and  saying 
nothing  about  our  own  selfishness,  vanity,  jealousy,  cruelty, 
and  designs  to  which  we  dare  not  give  audible  expression  ? 
“  All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every 
one  to  his  own  way.”  The  Lord  looked  down  from  heaven  to 
see  if  there  were  any  that  did  righteously,  and  he  said, 
“  There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one.”  Nor  do  we  add  to  our 
supposed  morality  by  publishing  statistics  against  other  people. 
It  is  quite  true  that  we  ought  not  therefore  to  spare  other 
vices  which  are  more  public  and  in  a  social  sense  more 
calamitous  than  the  vices  which  characterise  conventional  respec¬ 
tability  :  it  is  perfectly  true  that  there  ought  to  be  exposure 
and  denunciation  and  judgment  and  penalty,  and  that  hell  is 
too  good  for  those  who  work  evil;  but  the  two  statements  are 
perfectly  compatible  :  whilst  we  are  indignant,  and  justly  and 
rightly  so,  with  things  that  we  see,  we  ought  to  be  equally  indig¬ 
nant  with  the  things  that  are  hidden  in  our  own  hearts.  Purify 
the  fountain,  and  the  stream  will  be  clean  ;  make  the  tree  good, 
and  the  fruit  will  be  good.  Thus  there  are  two  aspects,  both  of 
which  may  be  zealously  maintained,  but  no  one  of  which  ought  to 
be  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  other.  Blessed  be  every  man 
who,  having  found  evil,  tears  the  mask  from  its  face,  and  blessed 
be  that  man  who  is  busy  casting  the  beam  out  of  his  own  eye 


214 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xi.  1-5. 


whilst  he  is  mourning  the  frailties,  the  follies,  the  wickedness 
and  ineffable  iniquity  of  others. 

Not  only  are  the  enemies  of  Christ  very  numerous,  but  they 
are  perfectly  united.  There  is  a  common  consent  amongst  them. 
They  hate  the  good.  They  are  unanimous,  and  their  unanimity 
is  power.  Though  they  sin  in  different  ways,  so  that  the  details 
seemingly  have  no  relation  to  one  another,  yet  there  is  an  under¬ 
stood  unanimity  amongst  bad  men,  there  is  a  password  of  evil, 
there  is  a  touch  which  is  known  throughout  the  infamous 
fraternity.  Bad  men  support  one  another.  Herein  they  set 
Christians  an  example.  Christians  are  not  united.  There  is  no 
body  of  men  so  disunited  as  the  Christian  body.  What  are  they 
doing  ?  Setting  one  opinion  against  another,  battling  for  isms , 
contradicting  one  another  publicly  and  bluntly,  assailing  one 
another,  creating  indictments  which  involve  petty  heterodoxies 
or  erratic  thinkings  amongst  honest  men ;  whereas  Christians 
ought  to  begin  with  this  fact,  namely  :  we  are  one  brotherhood ; 
we  are  one  in  our  worship  of  Christ,  in  our  trust  of  the  Cross,  in 
our  expectation  from  Calvary ;  we  are  one  in  prayer.  The 
moment  we  begin  to  pray,  all  hearts  throb  in  one  grand  energy ; 
the  moment  we  begin  to  speak  to  one  another,  contradiction  sets 
in.  Then  let  us  leave  everything  of  the  nature  of  dispute, 
contradiction,  and  variety  of  opinion,  and  show  a  common  front 
to  the  common  enemy.  There  is  no  occasion  to  say  that  we  are 
undervaluing  opinions,  differences,  and  varieties  of  conviction  and 
expression  ;  we  are  now  speaking  relatively,  and  I  cannot  but 
repeat  that,  in  view  of  enemies  many  as  the  sand  upon  the  sea¬ 
shore  in  multitude,  with  horses  and  chariots  very  many,  the  one 
grand  question  amongst  Christians  should  be,  How  far  are  we 
one  ?  and  not,  How  far  can  we  divide  and  subdivide  ourselves, 
and  separate  one  from  another  as  if  in  vital  hostility  ?  All  the 
world  over  the  bad  man  supports  the  bad  man.  He  may  not 
do  so  openly,  but  there  is  an  understanding  between  them  :  the 
one  bad  man  knows  that  if  his  house  falls,  the  other  man’s  house 
is  in  danger ;  or  when  the  other  man’s  house  falls,  his  own 
dwelling  is  in  peril.  Whatever  the  differences  in  name  and  detail 
and  circumstance,  evil  is  one,  and  evil  gathers  itself  together  in 
tremendous  concentration  to  fight  against  the  Son  of  God. 


Josh.xi.  1-5.]  TYPES  OF  CHRISTIAN  WARFARE. 


215 


The  forces  of  evil  are  many,  united,  and  desperate.^  They 
have  made  up  their  minds  to  work  rack  and  ruin.  We  have 
covered  over  a  great  deal  of  enmity,  but  it  is  still  there,  as  rank 
and  virulent  as  ever.  There  are  men  within  sound  of  the 
church-going  bells  who  would  tear  down  the  bells,  or  use  them 
to  announce  some  other  act  and  some  other  day  than  Christian 
service  and  resurrection  morning.  Within  the  sweep  of  our 
own  observation  there  are  men  who  would  burn  the  Bible,  dig 
up  the  very  foundations  of  the  sanctuary,  destroy  the  memory 
of  the  Cross  of  Christ.  We  need  not  go  to  heathen  lands  or 
foreign  countries,  and  talk  about  the  opposition  which  is  offered 
to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  There  is  no  such  opposition  in  many 
of  these  places,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  name  of  Christ  is 
not  known.  The  rancorous  and  awful  opposition  to  the  Cross  of 
Christ  is  in  our  own  hearts,  in  our  own  life,  and  may  be  within 
the  circuit  of  our  own  influence.  Wicked  men — let  us  repeat 
again  and  again — are  desperate.  Never  undervalue  the  force 
that  is  against  you.  Nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  pouring  contempt 
upon  the  numbers  that  are  arrayed  against  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
There  are  those  who  would  say,  The  enemy  can  be  but  few  in 
number — why  heed  a  dozen  men  ?  Why  make  any  account  of 
a  hundred  souls  ?  What  are  they  in  relation  to  the  great 
numbers  which  constitute  the  army  of  Christ  ?  Pour  contempt 
upon  no  one  man.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  itself  is  like  a  grain 
of  mustard  seed :  it  had  a  small  beginning,  and  it  has  gone 
forward  under  the  contempt  and  opposition  of  the  world  to  its 
present  position,  whatever  that  may  be,  in  beneficence  and 
nobleness.  One  desperate  man  is  an  army.  One  really  earnest 
man  is  a  host,  either  on  the  one  side  or  the  other.  There  are 
so  many  ciphers ;  the  number  is  very  great,  but  the  value  is 
nothing ;  the  value  would  be  increased  if  even  one  unit  could  be 
set  at  their  head  :  that  one  unit  would  shoot  a  value  through 
every  empty  cipher  and  make  it  stand  up  the  symbol  of  number 
and  force  and  goodness.  Woe  betide  the  Church  when,  shutting 
her  doors  and  closing  her  windows,  she  simply  looks  round  upon 
her  own  congregation  and  supposes  that  congregation  to  be  the 
world  !  At  any  given  moment  in  Christian  history  the  majority 
of  men,  taken  by  numbers,  has  been  dead  against  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Christ. 


2  l6 


TILE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  xi.  6. 


What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  A  dreary  picture  has  been  drawn  ; 
a  very  discouraging  outlook  has  been  taken  in  some  respects  and 
in  some  directions  :  what  is  to  be  done  ?  The  answer  is  in 
the  sixth  verse  : — 

# 

“  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua,  Be  not  afraid  because  of  them  :  for  to 
morrow  about  this  time  will  I  deliver  them  up  all  slain  before  Israel ;  thou 
shalt  hough  their  horses,  and  burn  their  chariots  with  fire.” 

It  required  the  Lord’s  voice  at  that  critical  moment.  There  are 
times  when,  if  God  himself  does  not  speak,  the  heart  cannot  live 
any  longer.  Hosts  are  gathering,  the  kings  are  coming  down, 
every  man  is  a  king,  and  every  king  has  brought  his  army  with 
him,  and  his  chariots  ;  the  gathering-place  is  within  sight,  and  in 
one  moment  more  the  tremendous  war  will  open, — “  and  the 
Lord  said — ”  The  Lord  times  his  sayings.  Lie  will  allow 
Joshua  to  look  on  until  Joshua’s  heart  becomes  as  water  within 
him,  until  his  strength  utterly  declines  ;  and  when  Joshua  is  in 
that  condition,  the  Lord  will  say,  “Be  not  afraid  because  of 
them  :  for  to  morrow  about  this  time  will  I  deliver  them  up  all 
slain  before  Israel.”  Who  can  tell  what  will  happen  within  one 
round  of  the  clock  ?  We  must  not  be  discouraged  because  at  any 
one  moment  the  Christian  cause  seems  to  be  overwhelmed.  The 
Lord  will  suddenly  come  to  his  temple.  Many  things  are  nearer 
than  we  suppose,  and  in  their  bringing-in  there  will  be  no 
violence  or  revolution.  The  great  spiritual  victory  may  be  won, 
to  our  surprise,  in  the  night-time,  as  though  we  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  but  it  were  purely  a  conquest  of  heaven  as  against  hell. 
History  is  made  in  critical  moments,  and  sometimes  apparently 
within  measurable  periods.  Yesterday  the  kings  were  in  high 
feather,  yea,  in  great  glee.  As  king  came  in  after  king,  the 
shout  of  victory  arose.  There  was  no  terror-stricken  man  in  all 
their  royal  gathering.  The  forces  of  the  land  had  come  together. 
This  was  no  deputation  work ;  it  was  original  service  :  the  kings 
themselves  were  soldiers.  How  long  did  it  take  to  overcome 
them  all  ?  What  we  should  now  term  one  round  of  the  clock. 
Surely  there  is  a  kind  of  latent  contempt  in  the  observation  “  for 
to  morrow  about  this  time.”  One  day  is  as  a  thousand  years, 
and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day.  Great  deeds  are  wrought  in 
a  short  time.  This  is  the  hope  of  the  Christian;  this  is  the 


Josh.  xi.  6.]  TYPES  OF  CHRISTIAN  WARFARE . 


217 


confidence  of  all  noble  workers  in  noble  causes.  We  cannot 
tell  how  it  is,  but  this  miracle  is  promised — the  last  miracle — 
the  miracle  of  suddenness,  immediacy.  Who  can  tell  how  the 
proud  and  the  mighty  shall  be  broken  down  “to  morrow  about  this 
time  ”  ?  Who  can  tell  how  short  a  period  it  will  require  God  to 
work  in  to  strike  off  the  fetter  from  the  foot  of  every  slave,  the 
manacles  from  the  wrist  of  every  bondman  ?  .  Sometimes  a  grand 
emancipation  or  deliverance  has  appeared  to  be  a  thousand  3^ears 
off,  and  yet  “  to  morrow  about  this  time,”  even  to  morrow  the 
whole  blessed  issue  was  wrought  out  and  accomplished,  and 
Right  as  against  foul  Might  was  crowned.  This  is  the  view  we 
must  take  of  our  service.  Our  service  appears  in  some  respects 
to  be  even  contemptible.  We  preach,  but  nobody  hears,  or  they 
who  hear  do  not  believe;  they  laugh  with  their  hearts,  or  put  away 
Christ  with  silent  disdain.  He  seems  to  be  fighting  a  losing 
battle;  he  is  no  further  on  to-day  than  he  was  yesterday ;  even 
where  his  sentiments  are  acknowledged,  and  where  the  compli¬ 
ment  of  hypocrisy  is  paid  to  him,  there  is  no  sound  progress  of 
righteousness  and  verity  and  holiness.  That  is  a  false  view,  or 
it  is  a  view  which  should  be  false  by  the  testimony  of  all  history. 
“  To  morrow  about  this  time  ”  there  will  not  a  king  be  found 
arrayed  against  the  Son  of  God.  “  To  morrow  about  this  time  ” 
heaven  will  descend,  earth  will  arise,  and  none  will  be  able  to  tell 
the  difference  between  the  fair  worlds  ;  Christ  shall  have  the 
heathen  for  an  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
a  possession.  He  seems  to  be  now  ten  thousand  ages  away  from 
that  royalty,  but  “  to  morrow  about  this  time  ”  that  astounded 
earth  will  throw  down  its  arms,  and  say,  in  every  language, 
“  Galilean,  thou  hast  conquered,”  or,  “  Son  of  God,  reign  over  us  ; 
thine  is  the  right  to  reign.”  Blessed  is  that  servant  who  expects 
these  things  !  He  is  inspired  by  the  expectation  :  he  comes  up 
again  to  the  fight,  assured  that  “to  morrow  about  this  time” 
the  victory  will  be  won.  Is  it  not  possible  for  us  to  anticipate 
even  the  time  which  God  has  set,  and,  as  it  were,  to  surprise  him 
by  an  early  surrender  ?  Is  it  not  possible  for  some  even  now  to 
say,  I  will  not  put  it  off  until  to-morrow;  it  shall  be  done  now. 
Now  I  will  part  with  all  evil ;  I  will  dissolve  alliance  with 
all  iniquity  :  I  will,  God  helping  me,  be  a  new  man,  and  serve 
the  Lord  in  fulness  of  the  heart’s  consent  ? 


2l8 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  xi.  6. 


Joshua  did  his  work  thoroughly.  In  the  twelfth  verse  we  read, 
“  he  utterly  destroyed  them.”  We  want  thorough  work.  We 
have  partially  cut  down  many  vices  :  we  have  shaved  off  the 
top  of  them,  but  the  root  is  still  there,  and,  as  we  have  seen 
before,  the  vine  is  the  root,  not  the  flower,  not  the  blossom. 
What  would  be  said  of  the  husbandman  who  simply  took  the  top 
off  the  poisonous  tree  which  was  destroying  the  fertility  of  his 
land  ?  We  should  describe  him  as  thoughtless,  foolish,  unwise 
altogether,  and  exhort  him  to  dig  up  the  root  and  burn  it  with 
unquenchable  fire.  What  would  be  said  of  the  man  who  painted 
himself  a  healthy  colour, — who,  without  taking  note  of  the 
internal  disease,  simply  concealed  its  symptoms  under  a  coating 
of  fine  tint  that  should  express  to  the  casual  observer  real  health  ? 
We  should  call  him  “fool;”  we  should  describe  him  in  the 
severest  terms ;  we  should  designate  him  a  madman.  But  what 
is  that  to  what  we  ourselves  may  be  doing, — washing  the  outside 
of  the  cup  and  platter,  while  the  inside  is  full  of  rottenness  and 
dead  men’s  bones  ?  The  eyes  of  judgment  will  look  upon  the 
inside,  and  many  an  outside  flaw  or  stain  will  be  forgiven  or 
excused  because  of  the  friction  of  life  and  the  multitudinousness 
of  our  relations;  but  the  inside,  the  interior,  that  will  be  judged, 
and  that  will  be  approved  or  condemned. 

Sweet  is  the  last  word  : — “the  land  rested  from  war”  (v.  23). 
The  tocsin  sounded  no  more ;  the  trumpet  was  not  again  heard. 
The  whole  earth  is  to  be  at  peace  with  God,  and  therefore 
at  peace  with  itself.  The  sword  and  the  spear  are  to  be  turned 
into  ploughshare  and  pruning-hook,  and  the  shiel  is  to  be 
hung  up  in  the  hall — a  piece  of  ancient  history,  only  preserved 
that  it  may  stimulate  to  holier  thanksgiving  and  profounder 
prayer.  The  land  had  rest  from  war.  The  fiend  went  abroad 
no  more.  Man  came  to  man  as  brother  to  brother.  Feuds  and 
differences  and  separations  were  things  of  the  past.  Every  man 
knew  the  Lord ;  every  man  prayed  with  his  brother-man  in 
happy  consent.  This  is  a  great  outlook  from  the  Christian’s 
specular  tower  :  he  sees  the  morning  of  peace,  the  day  of  light, 
the  Sabbath  of  humanity  ;  and  he  preaches  in  that  tone — the 
great,  glad,  triumphant  voice,  like  the  voice  of  many  waters  ;  he 
says,  Peace  is  coming ;  the  battle-flag  is  furled  ;  and  the  world 


Josh.  xi.  23.]  TYPES  OF  CHRISTIAN  WARFARE. 


219 


is  at  last  at  peace  !  Towards  that  end  we  are  moving.  We  are 
not  ashamed  of  the  issue  ;  we  are  hoping  for  it,  praying  for  it, 
working  for  it.  Ask  what  the  Christian  Church  is  doing,  and  if 
in  earnest,  she  is  doing  this  one  thing  only — fighting  for  peace, 
praying  against  evil ;  and  all  she  does  tends  in  the  direction  of 
“the  federation  of  the  world.” 

SELECTED  NOTES. 

Jabin,  king  of  Hazor. — (1)  One  of  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  princes  who 
reigned  in  Canaan  when  it  was  invaded  by  the  Israelites.  His  dominion 
seems  to  have  extended  over  all  the  north  part  of  the  country ;  and  after 
the  ruin  of  the  league  formed  against  the  Hebrews  in  the  south  by  Adoni- 
zedek,  king  of  Jerusalem,  he  assembled  his  tributaries  near  the  waters  of 
Merom  (the  lake  Huleh),  and  called  all  the  people  to  arms.  This  coalition 
was  destroyed,  as  the  one  in  the  south  had  been,  and  Jabin  himself 
perished  in  the  sack  of  Hazor,  his  capital,  b.c.  1450.  This  prince  was  the 
last  powerful  enemy  with  whom  Joshua  combated,  and  his  overthrow  seems 
to  have  been  regarded  as  the  crowning  act  in  the  conquest  of  the  Promised 
Land  (Josh.  xi.  1-14). 

(2)  A  king  of  Hazor,  and  probably  descended  from  the  preceding.  It 
appears  that  during  one  of  the  servitudes  of  the  Israelites,  probably  when 
they  lay  under  the  yoke  of  Cushan  or  Eglon,  the  kingdom  of  Hazor  was 
reconstructed.  The  narrative  gives  to  this  second  Jabin  even  the  title  of 
“king  of  Canaan  ;  ’’and  this,  with  the  possession  of  nine  hundred  iron-armed 
war-chariots,  implies  unusual  power  and  extent  of  dominion.  The  iniquities 
of  the  Israelites  having  lost  them  the  divine  protection,  Jabin  gained  the 
mastery  over  them  ;  and  stimulated  by  the  remembrance  of  ancient  wrongs, 
oppressed  them  heavily  for  twenty  years.  From  this  thraldom  they  were 
relieved  by  the  great  victory  won  by  Barak  in  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  over 
the  hosts  of  Jabin,  commanded  by  Sisera,  one  of  the  most  renowned 
generals  of  those  times,  b.c.  1285.  The  well-compacted  power  of  the 
king  of  Hazor  was  not  yet,  however,  entirely  broken.  The  war  was  still 
prolonged  for  a  time,  but  ended  in  the  entire  ruin  of  Jabin,  and  the 
subjugation  of  his  territories  by  the  Israelites  (Judg.  iv.).  This  is  the  Jabin 
whose  name  occurs  in  Psalm  lxxxiii.  10. 

The  question  has  been  raised  whether  these  two  Jabins  were  not  one  and 
the  same ;  and  the  affirmative  has  by  some  been  assumed  as  an  argument 
against  the  authenticity  of  the  narrative  in  Joshua ;  while  others  think  that 
the  two  narratives  may  be  of  events  so  nearly  contemporaneous  that  they 
may  have  happened  in  the  lifetime  of  the  same  person.  This  latter 
hypothesis,  however,  cannot  possibly  be  retained  ;  for  even  supposing  that 
the  ordinary  chronology,  which  places  the  defeat  of  Sisera  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  after  the  time  of  Joshua,  requires  correction,  no  correction  that 
can  be  legitimately  made  will  render  it  possible  to  synchronise  the  two  narra¬ 
tives,  nor  can  we  suppose  that  within  the  lifetime  of  one  man  Hazor  could 
have  been  rebuilt,  the  shattered  kingdom  of  its  ruler  restored,  and  that  ruler 
enabled  to  tyrannise  over  his  former  conquerors  for  twenty  years. 


PRAYER, 


Almighty  God,  we  know  that  thou  art  love,  but  what  love  is,  who  can  tell  ? 
Yet  we  feel  after  thee  because  of  our  need  of  One  greater  and  better  than 
ourselves.  Our  souls  have  often  cried  in  the  darkness,  O  that  I  knew  where 
I  might  find  him  :  I  would  come  unto  him,  and  order  my  speech  before  him. 
We  know  where  thou  art ;  unto  us  who  live  in  these  latter  days  is  the 
sanctuary  of  the  Almighty  well  known.  Thou  art  in  Christ  Jesus  thy  Son. 
Thou  art  in  the  Cross  of  redemption ;  thou  art  always  to  be  found  there ;  to 
that  Cross,  therefore,  we  now  come,  and  our  eyes  are  unto  it  with  the  eager¬ 
ness  of  love  and  expectation.  Thou  wilt  not  disappoint  the  look  of  trust ; 
thou  hast  never  denied  the  prayer  of  simple  faith.  Thou  wilt  not  deny  our 
prayer  when  we  ask  for  pardon,  saying,  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  sinners, 
and  forgive  us  our  iniquities,  and  cleanse  us  from  all  our  sins.  To  this 
prayer  thou  hast  but  one  reply.  Whilst  we  are  yet  speaking,  may  we  hear 
the  answer,  and  stand  up  like  men  who  have  heard  music  from  heaven. 
We  rejoice  in  a  pardoning  God.  We  need  pardon.  We  have  done  wrong  ; 
but  thou  art  merciful  as  well  as  righteous,  and  there  are  tears  in  the  eyes 
of  judgment.  We  come  to  thy  compassion,  not  to  thy  righteousness;  we 
hasten  to  thy  Cross,  O  Christ,  and  not  to  the  throne  of  the  judge.  Who 
can  stand  when  God  inquireth  for  life?  What  man  may  abide  the  look  of 
justice  ?  But  we  come  to  Christ ;  we  stand  at  the  Cross ;  we  hope  in  the 
mysterious  blood,  the  wondrous  sacrifice,  not  to  be  explained,  but  to  be 
felt :  an  influence  that  touches  the  heart,  a  ministry  that  awakens  the  love. 
Send  none  unblessed  from  thy  word  ;  let  a  portion  of  meat  be  given  to 
each  in  due  season  ;  and  may  we  feci  that  in  perusing  thy  Book  we  have 
been  enjoying  a  spiritual  feast,  eating  and  drinking  in  the  King’s  presence, 
and  that  we  have  been  refreshed  and  satisfied  and  stimulated  by  the  bounty 
of  thy  house.  Amen. 


Joshua  xii.,  xiii. 

A  RECORDED  LIFE. 


HESE  two  chapters  contain  a  good  deal  of  hard  reading. 


JL  They  are  studded  with  unfamiliar  and  difficult  words  and 
names,  so  that  reading  them  is  like  reading  the  writing  upon 
gravestones  in  a  foreign  land.  Still,  there  is  much  for  our 
instruction  here.  For  example,  we  are  called  to  behold  how 
good  a  thing  it  is  to  keep  a  detailed  record  of  life.  These 


Josh,  xii.,  xiii.]  A  RECORDED  LIFE. 


22 1 


chapters  are  in  a  certain  sense  diaries  or  journals.  The  men 
of  the  ancient  time  wrote  down  what  they  did — that  is  to  say, 
they  kept  their  story  freshly  before  their  memories  :  they  lost 
nothing ;  they  wrote  their  accounts  up  to  date ;  and  at  any 
given  moment  they  could  peruse  the  record  and  derive  from  it 
the  advantage  of  stimulus  which  such  an  exercise  could  not  fail 
to  supply.  The  twelfth  chapter  deals  with  the  slaughter  of 
many  kings.  Their  names  are  given,  or  the  names  of  their  cities. 
Men  were  not  slain,  and  forgotten.  This  was  not  a  heedless 
fight,  wherein  the  soldiers  on  the  victorious  side  struck  in  the 
dark  and  knew  not  what  men  they  slew  or  what  progress  they 
made.  The  whole  matter  is  detailed,  put  down — simply,  clearly, 
and  definitely.  Moses  seems  to  figure  but  poorly  in  the  record 
of  slaughter.  He  killed  but  two  kings  ;  and  Joshua  killed  thirty- 
one  kings.  But  who  are  the  kings  that  Joshua  killed,  compared 
with  the  kings  slain  by  Moses  ?  The  two  which  Moses  slew 
have  famous  names ;  they  were  great  and  mighty  men.  The 
thirty-one  slain  by  Joshua  did  not  add  up  to  the  two  slain  by 
Moses.  Thus  work  is  estimated  by  quality.  We  do  not  reckon 
by  number  in  the  sanctuary,  but  by  quality  and  by  relation, 
by  just  standards,  and  the  weighing  is  done  in  scales  of  gold. 
The  poor  woman  who  gave  all  she  had  gave  more  than  all  the 
rich  :  for  they  gave  out  of  the  margin,  out  of  the  abundant 
and  all  but  unreckonable  profit,  the  surplus  of  their  earnings 
or  savings ;  but  she  plucked  out  her  whole  heart  and  cast  it  into 
God’s  treasury,  the  only  donation  she  could  give ;  said  the 
Treasurer,  It  is  more  than  they  all.  This  shall  be  the  law  of 
judgment  :  according  to  what  we  have,  according  to  the  quality 
of  our  work.  The  fire  shall  try  every  man’s  work  of  what  sort 
it  is.  He  who  has  killed  many  kings,  and  he  who  has  killed 
but  two,  shall  be  judged,  not  according  to  the  number,  but 
according  to  the  difficulty,  thb  dignity,  the  quality  involved  in 
the  tremendous  exercise.  Do  we  keep  a  record  of  life  ?  How 
few  men  write  their  own  story  :  in  truth,  there  seems  in  many 
cases  to  be  nothing  to  write.  But  this  is  quite  a  mistake.  It 
is  better  to  write  the  little  nothing  there  is,  than  to  omit  the 
inscription  altogether.  .  A  man  may  be  shamed  by  the  very 
nothingness  of  his  entries  to  go  out  and  do  something  worth 
putting  down  on  paper  and  leaving  as  a  record.  We  do  not 


222 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  xiii.  i. 


know  what  we  do  until  we  detail  it.  No  man  knows  how  much 
money  he  spends  unless  he  puts  down  every  coin.  That  is 
the  difference  between  the  wise  man  and  the  fool.  The  fool 
knows  nothing  as  to  what  he  is  doing  :  he  goes  out  in  the  dark, 
works  in  the  dark,  returns  in  the  dark,  and  he  cannot  tell  what 
he  has  made  of  the  trust  which  was  put  into  his  hands.  The 
wise  man  is  his  own  judge,  his  own  scribe  and  secretary ;  and 
many  a  page  he  peruses  which  his  hands  wrote  long  ago  with 
tears  and  penitence,  with  the  difficulty  of  self-conviction.  No 
man  knows  how  much  he  gives  in  charity  unless  he  puts  it 
down.  But  who  dare  put  that  down  ?  Who  can  say  how 
little  paper  would  be  required  for  the  record  in  many  cases  ? 
Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  who  can  say  how  much  paper  would  be 
required  by  other  men  ?  But  there  is  a  deadly  sophism  which 
relates,  not  only  to  the  giving  of  money,  but  to  the  giving  of 
service,  which  expresses  itself  in  this  form  :  I  am  always  giving. 
If  you  think  so,  you  are  never  giving.  Have  you  put  down 
what  you  have  done,  and  added  it  up  ?  Now  add  up  the  other 
page  on  which  the  luxuries  are  written,  the  adornments  of  the 
house,  the  decorations  of  the  person,  the  indulgences  of  appetite, 
the  tribute  paid  to  social  ambition.  Add  up  the  figures  :  recite 
them  if  you  dare  !  Yet  it  is  well  to  write  down  the  story — the 
story  of  discipline  and  battle  and  sorrow  :  the  story  of  spiritual 
kings  that  have  been  slain,  of  enemies  that  have  been  conquered 
by  love,  and  of  positions  that  have  been  seized  by  prayer. 

Then,  again,  we  see  how  time  beats  the  strongest.  This  is  set 
forth  very  pensively  : — 

“Now  Joshua  was  old  and  stricken  in  years;  and  the  Lord  said  unto 
him,  Thou  art  old  and  stricken  in  years,  and  there  remaineth  yet  very  much 
land  to  be  possessed  ”  (xiii.  i). 

We  have  seen  Moses  go  up  to  die  with  the  fire  of  his  eye 
unquenched.  Joshua  is  said  to  be  “old,”  but  not  in  the  sense 
of  years  ;  he  was  “  stricken  in  years,”  that  is  to  say,  the  years 
had  told  heavily  upon  him.  There  was  not  much  of  him  to 
begin  with.  He  was  fertile,  keen,  quick,  flashing;  but  he 
had  not  much  stubborn  stuff  in  him  to  stand  the  wear  and  the 
tear  of  a  captain’s  life.  He  was  only  about  a  hundred  and  ten 
when  he  died,  a  sum  counted  as  nothing  in  the  ancient  days. 


Josh.  xiii.  i.] 


A  RECORDED  LIFE . 


223 


But  the  word  here  used  literally  means,  time  has  told  upon  thee  ; 
this  wear  and  tear  has  made  havoc  in  thy  strength,  Joshua; 
how  old  thou  art ! — not  in  days,  but  in  anxiety,  in  care ;  thou 
art  whitened,  blanched,  withered ;  and  yet  there  is  much  work 
to  be  done,  much  land  to  be  possessed.  So  God  takes  note 
of  our  failing  strength.  He  says,  concerning  this  man  and  that, 
Grey  hairs  are  here  and  there  upon  him,  and  he  knoweth  it  not. 
About  some  supposedly  strong  men,  he  says,  They  are  wearing 
out ;  they  are  old  at  forty ;  at  fifty  they  will  be  patriarchal, 
so  far  as  the  exhaustion  of  strength  is  concerned ;  they  will  die 
young  in  years,  but  old  in  service.  God’s  work  does  take  much  out 
of  a  man,  if  the  man  is  faithful.  A  man  may  pray  himself  into 
a  withered  old  age  in  one  night :  in  one  little  day  a  man  may 
add  years  to  his  labour.  We  can  work  off-handedly :  the  work 
need  not  take  much  out  of  us ;  but  if  we  think  about 
it,  ponder  it,  execute  it  with  both  hands, — if  it  is  the  one  thought 
of  the  soul,  who  can  tell  how  soon  the  strongest  man  may  be 
run  out,  and  the  youngest  become  a  white-haired  patriarch  ? 
But  blessed  is  it  to  be  worked  out  in  this  service.  A  quaint 
minister  of  the  last  century  said,  “  It  is  better  to  rub  out  than 
to  rust  out.”  How  many  are  content  to  “rust  out  ”  !  They  know 
nothing  about  friction,  sacrifice,  self-slaughter,  martyrdom.  The 
work  tells  upon  men  in  different  ways.  Moses  was  as  young 
when  he  died  as  when  he  began.  As  for  Ins  spirit,  his  enthusiasm, 
he  could  have  taken  a  thousand  kings  ;  but  it  was  time  he  was 
in  heaven  :  God  knew  his  life,  God  counted  his  pulses,  God 
estimated  his  strength ;  and  God  sends  for  a  man  when  he 
wants  him.  Joshua  came  briskly  forward,  though  at  first  we 
felt  there  was  something  wanting  in  the  man  somewhere.  He 
needed  so  much  encouragement.  The  opening  of  his  story 
is  full  of  “fear  not;”  “be  not  dismayed;”  “only  be  of  a  good 
courage;”  hope  in  God;  keep  your  spirits  up;  cheer  yourself : 
now  go  forward.  We  wondered  as  to  the  meaning  of  this. 
We  could  not  tell  at  first  all  it  signified.  Now  it  comes  out. 
He  is  old  already,  stricken  in  years  before  he  has  begun  to  live ; 
and  the  land  unconquered  lies  before  him  like  a  challenge,  yet 
darkens  upon  him  like  a  despair.  No  man  completes  the  work. 
This  is  saddening,  even  to  the  point  of  agony.  A  man  is  per¬ 
mitted  to  build  the  wall  of  his  tower  half-way  up,  and  then 


224 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Josh.  xiii.  i. 


when  he  has  got  into  the  way  of  it,  and  could  build  blithely, 
because  of  added  skill  and  experience,  he  is  told  to  come  down — 
and  to  die  !  Providence  is  thus  a  continual  rebuke  to  human 
ambition.  We  cannot  put  on  the  topstone.  How  much  we 
would  like  to  do  so  1  to  see  the  last  child  thoroughly  educated 
and  comfortably  settled  in  life ;  to  see  the  last  effort  crowned 
with  success  !  Then  we  should  retire  into  the  sylvan  shade,  and 
listen  to  the  singing  birds  all  day,  and  spend  a  quiet  eventide, 
and  glide  into  heaven,  rather  than  die  into  its  splendours  !  But 
the  column  is  broken  in  the  middle.  A  man  is  old  whilst  yet 
his  friends  are  rallying  him  on  the  fewness  of  his  years.  And 
the  uncompleted  work  testifies  that  God  is  the  Builder  and  man 
but  the  labourer  of  a  day.  Seldom  can  a  man  complete  his  own 
work.  There  is  always  “  much  land  to  be  possessed.”  The 
author  has  planned  ten  more  volumes.  Men,  looking  on,  say, 
How  active  he  is,  and  busy  and  prolific !  He  says,  I  have  done 
nothing  yet,  I  have  not  even  begun;  presently  I  will  set  to 
work  and  go  through  it  like  a  man.  It  is  not  to  be  !  The  man 
who  has  lived  well  has  a  thousand  schemes  in  his  head  when 
he  dies.  Pie  says,  I  was  just  planning  the  noblest  work  of 
my  life ;  I  had  just  settled  in  my  mind  to  begin  what  would 
have  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  useful  projections  of  the  age ; 
and  now  my  right  hand  is  withered,  and  the  one  strong  arm 
falls  by  my  side  in  impotence.  11  In  the  midst  of  life  we  are 
in  death  ;  ”  “  boast  not  thyself  of  to  morrow ;  for  thou  knowest 
not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth  ;  ”  (<  work  while  it  is  called  to¬ 
day,  for  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work ;  ”  “  whatso¬ 
ever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might ;  ”  for  the 
time  of  ceasing  is  at  hand.  Does  God  look  at  the  worker  only  ? 
No;  he  looks  at  the  work  as  well: — “  there  remaineth  yet 
very  much  land  to  be  possessed.”  So  he  will  have  the  land 
divided ;  he  will  have  it  allotted  before  the  battle  goes  any 
further.  What,  is  not  this  an  allotment  on  paper  ?  The  battle 
has  not  yet  begun  in  these  other  regions.  We  have  seen  the 
conquest  of  Jericho,  and  the  burning  of  Ai,  but  as  to  these 
other  portions  of  the  land,  the  foot  of  Israel  has  not  even  been 
set  upon  them.  God  says,  That  does  not  concern  you ;  take 
pen  in  hand,  and  write  after  my  dictation.  Then  he  maps  out 
the  land,  fixes  the  boundaries,  appoints  the  possessor,  determines 


Josh.  xiii.  2-6.]  A  RECORDED  LIFE. 


22  5 


the  tribal  relations,  and  creates  a  new  geography.  But  suppose 
that  the  fortunes  of  war  should  alter  all  these  appointments  ? 
What  is  God’s  answer  to  that  ?  His  answer  is,  There  are 
no  fortunes  of  war,  there  are  no  accidents ;  life  is  not  a  specula¬ 
tion,  human  history  is  not  a  game  of  chance ;  all  things  are 
ordered  and  appointed,  and  move  by  a  massive  and  inevitable 
law,  the  meaning  of  which  in  the  long  run  is — righteousness, 
beneficence,  right.  And  the  scribe  wrote  how  the  land  was  to 
lie.  This  is  the  Christian’s  comfort !  “  The  very  hairs  of  your 

head  are  all  numbered.”  If  we  are  doing  anything  on  our  own 
account,  in  a  kind  of  practically  atheistic  manner,  God  will  allow 
us  to  build  a  little  more,  but  he  will  come  down  to  see  the  tower 
we  have  been  building ;  he  will  put  his  finger  upon  it, — and  in 
the  morning  it  will  be  found  a  ruin  !  Only  they  build  wisely 
who  build  under  God’s  direction  and  by  his  daily  inspiration. 

Then,  comes  the  alarming,  yet  comforting  thought, — that  God 
keeps  a  record,  if  we  do  not.  Read  chapter  xiii.  2-6,  and  see  how 
detailed  is  the  knowledge  and  purpose  of  God  : — “  This  is  the  land 
that  yet  remaineth  :  all  the  borders  of  the  Philistines,  and  all 
Geshuri,  from  Sihor,  which  is  before  Egypt,  even  unto  the  borders 
ofEkron  northward,  which  is  counted  to  the  Canaanite:  five  lords 
of  the  Philistines ;  the  Gazathites,  and  the  Ashdothites,  the 
Eshkalonites,  the  Gittites,  and  the  Ekronites  ;  also  the  Avites  : 
from  the  south,  all  the  land  of  the  Canaanites,  and  Mearah 
that  is  beside  the  Sidonians,  unto  Aphek,  to  the  borders  of  the 
Amorites :  and  the  land  of  the  Giblites,  and  all  Lebanon, 
toward  the  sunrising,  from  Baalgad  under  mount  Hermon  unto 
the  entering  into  Hamath.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  hill 
country  from  Lebanon  unto  Misrephoth-maim,  and  all  the 
Sidonians,  them  will  I  drive  out  from  before  the  children  of 
Israel :  only  divide  thou  it  by  lot  unto  the  Israelites  for  an 
inheritance,  as  I  have  commanded  thee.”  Yet  we  try  to  exclude 
God  from  his  own  world.  We  think  we  make  the  fields  to  grow  ; 
whereas  we  have  no  power  to  make  anything  grow,  except 
we  obey  the  unwritten  and  eternal  law  of  nature.  We  can 
do  wonders  in  little  patches  of  land ;  but  who  can  strike  a 
light  that  will  illuminate  a  landscape  ?  Who  can  kindle  a  fire 
that  will  warm  the  earth  ?  We  are  such  toy-makers  ;  we  do  all 

i5 


VOL.  V. 


226 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xiii.  22. 


our  work  on  such  a  minute  scale,  that  we  deceive  ourselves  by 
supposing  that  we  are  doing  something  :  whereas,  in  reality,  we 
are  only  keeping  the  law.  We  can  break  the  moral  law,  but  we 
must  keep  the  natural  law.  Breaking  the  moral  law,  we  call 
ourselves  free  men  ;  keeping  the  natural  law,  we  do  not  know  what 
we  are.  But  that  is  our  position.  We  work  by  the  sun  ;  we  take 
our  time  from  the  meridian.  We  are  the  slaves  of  nature :  we 
are  the  rebels  of  the  sanctuary.  Blessed  is  the  man  who 
meditates  in  the  law  of  God  day  and  night — the  great  law,  the 
whole  law,  natural,  moral,  spiritual :  it  is  really  one  law,  because 
the  Law-giver  is  one.  Why  not  be  as  obedient  in  morals  as  we 
are  in  labour,  in  agriculture,  in  travel  ?  Who  counts  it  degrada¬ 
tion  to  wait  for  the  tide  ?  Who  calls  himself  a  slave  because 
he  waits  for  the  seed-time,  and  cannot  hasten  it  one  hour  ?  The 
whole  scheme  of  things  is  set  in  law,  “  the  Lord  reigneth.”  All 
we  have  to  do  is  to  study  the  law,  understand  it,  obey  it;  then 
our  peace  will  flow  like  a  river,  and  our  righteousness  as  the 
waves  of  the  sea.  God  knows  what  has  been  done.  He  says,  in 
effect,  I  have  watched  you,  and  I  have  marked  down  every  step 
you  have  taken  :  you  are  at  this  moment  at  this  point;  now  from 
this  point  the  course  is  thus  and  so ;  and  all  the  land  is  to  be 
possessed.  God  will  have  the  land,  even  if  we  die.  Noble  is  the 
thought  that  he  has  entered  into  covenant  with  his  Son.  We 
may  smile  at  the  old  theological  terms  as  we  please,  but  noble 
is  the  thought  that  there  is  a  covenant  pledging  that  Jesus  Christ 
shall  have  the  heathen  for  an  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  a  possession.  Sometimes  it  seems  as  if  this 
could  not  be.  We  say  it  never  can  be  accomplished  ;  the  so-called 
Christian  civilisation  is  going  backward.  Only  going  backward 
as  we  have  seen  the  waves  go  backward,  that  they  might  come 
in  with  a  fuller  force  and  throb  against  the  appointed  boundary. 
We  believe  that  all  the  land  shall  be  possessed,  because  the 
mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 

Then  there  is  another  consideration,  and  that  relates  to  the 
recurrence  of  bad  names  in  the  comings  and  goings  of  human 
history.  We  are  startled  on  reading  the  twenty-second  verse  of 
the  thirteenth  chapter  : — 

1  Balaam  also  the  son  of  Beor,  the  soothsayer,  did  the  children  of  Israel 
slay  with  the  sword  among  them  that  were  slain  by  them.” 


Josh.  xiii.  22.]  A  RECORDED  LIFE.  227 ^ 

We  thought  we  had  done  with  Balaam.  We  made  a  study  of 
him  and  closed  the  page.  But  who  knows- where  his  name  may 
come  up  again  ?  Who  can  tell  in  what  relation  he  will  stand  to 
human  history  as  the  ages  move  on  and  circumstances  vivify  the 
memory  of  men  ?  We  think  of  names  we  will  not  mention  to 
ourselves  :  they  bring  up  nought  but  pain  and  shame  and  woe. 
We  think  of  names  we  would  speak  all  day  long,  for  the  mention 
of  them  is  like  a  mention  of  summer  flowers,  and  the  record  of 
the  deeds  in  simple  speech  is  like  a  gathering  of  such  flowers, 
handful  by  handful,  until  the  house  is  beauteous  and  fragrant  as 
a  garden.  Our  actions  will  come  up  in  curious  connections  years 
after.  People  will  say  of  one,  He  was  a  mean  man,  a  selfish 
calculator  and  designer ;  he  never  did  good  to  any  living  soul.  Of 
another  they  will  say,  He  was  a  brave  creature,  full  of  chivalry, 
quite  lowly  in  heart,  and  so  munificent  that  both  hands  were 
employed  in  helping  the  helpless  and  blessing  those  who  needed 
comfort.  A  little  incident  will  occur,  and  all  memory  will  be 
lighted  up,  because  the  observer  will  remember  how  good  some 
one  was,  and  tender  and  sympathetic.  The  business  man  will 
help  the  young  man  because  he  will  remember,  when  the  case 
comes  before  him,  that  he  himself  was  once  young  and  needed  a 
friend,  and  that  a  friend  touched  him  as  he  lay  in  prison,  and  the 
chain  fell  off  and  he  walked  out  a  free  man  ;  and  he  will  say, 
“In  memory  of  that  friend  I  do  this  deed.”  So  the  good  does 
live  after  men,  though  the  evil  is  not  often  interred  with  their 
bones.  We  will  reverse  the  poet’s  moaning  strain  and  say, 
Yes,  the  good  does  live,  as  well  as  the  evil.  Blessed  are  they 
who  have  laid  up  material  for  this  kind  of  immortality.  Even 
this,  if  the  only  immortality,  is  worth  living  for  :  in  years  after 
the  name  shall  be  a  household  word  in  many  a  family-circle,  for 
it  is  associated  with  noble  thought,  generous  impulse,  self- 
sacrificing  deed,  and  bravery  to  which  the  darkness  was  but  as 
the  light,  and  to  which  danger  was  a  challenge  rather  than  a 
dread.  If  we  do  not  write  our  life,  God  is  writing  it.  A  man 
in  his  vision  saw  the  great  white  throne,  and  the  Judge  was 
set,  and  the  books  were  opened,  and  another  book,  which  is  the 
book  of  life.  Wherever  our  name  is  written,  may  it  be  written 
in  that  book ;  and  God  will  see  that  no  fire  can  destroy  the 
record. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  we  pray  for  one  another  that,  according  to  the  necessity  of 
each  heart,  thou  mayest  command  a  great  blessing  from  heaven.  Thou 
knowest  what  our  life  is — how  full  of  pain  and  trouble  and  unrest,  how  much 
disabled,  how  weary  oftentimes,  yea,  how  dejected  and  even  despairing.  But 
thine  eyes  are  upon  us  for  good ;  the  heavens  are  opened  unto  our  prayer ; 
the  Cross  of  Christ  is  still  the  centre  of  our  hope.  We  come  to  that  Cross 
day  by  day,  longing  to  understand  more  and  more  of  its  love,  of  its  deep 
meaning  in  relation  to  our  sin.  We  would  be  affected  by  that  love ;  we 
would  see  what  thou  feelest  and  thinkest  concerning  men,  and  would  exclaim, 
Herein  is  love !  God  is  iove ;  God  is  very  pitiful  and  kind  :  his  mercy 
endureth  for  ever.  He  is  kind  unto  the  unthankful  and  to  the  evil :  while 
we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us.  May  we  be  subdued  by  that  love, 
chastened  and  elevated  by  its  infinite  spirit;  and  as  thou  dost  love  us,  so  may 
we  love  one  another.  We  know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  into  life 
because  we  love  the  brethren.  May  this  love  grow  within  us,  and  find 
continual  expression  in  our  speech  and  conduct,  so  that  others  looking  on 
may  begin  to  wonder  and  inquire,  saying,  Behold  how  these  Christians  love 
one  another  in  deed  and  in  truth  !  We  have  come  up  to  worship  God.  We 
would  be  bowed  down  before  thee  in  penitence  and  humiliation,  because  of 
sin.  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  sinners  !  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth 
from  all  sin.  There  is  a  fountain  opened  in  the  house  of  David  for  sin  and 
for  uncleanness.  We  have  no  answer;  we  are  without  excuse  or  defence  ; 
all  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own 
way.  Have  mercy  upon  us  for  the  sake  of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord, 
who  freely  bore  our  griefs  and  carried  our  iniquities.  Amen. 


Joshua  xiv. 


CALEB’S  CLAIM. 


ALEB  was  a  prince  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  before  the 


allotment  of  the  land  was  proceeded  with  he  said,  in  effect, 
I  have  something  to  say  about  this  ;  the  allotment  ought  not 
to  proceed  until  I  have  been  heard  :  whether  the  word  was 
written  or  not,  Caleb  said,  in  effect,  I  cannot  tell,  but  it  was 
surely  written  in  my  heart ;  I  will  tell  thee  what  it  was  :  A 
distinct  promise  was  made  to  me  some  five-and-forty  years  ago, 


Josh,  xiv.] 


CALEB'S  CLAIM \ 


229 


and  that  promise  was  to  this  effect.  Then  Caleb  quoted  the 
words  or  their  substance,  and  set  the  case  before  Joshua,  who,  as 
prince  of  the  host,  listened  kindly  and  answered  generously  and 
justly.  How  wonderfully  the  Past  affects  the  Present !  We 
must  not  think  that  affairs  are  lying  upon  the  surface  and  are  open 
to  the  handling  of  any 'one  ;  that  the  business  of  life  is  superficial, 
easy,  requiring  no  reference  to  the  historical  past,  and  no  reference 
to  unwritten,  but  eternal  law.  There  is  nothing  so  simple  as  it 
often  seems  to  be.  Sometimes  simplicity  is  but  the  last  result  of 
complexity.  Beware,  therefore,  of  all  counsellors  who  treat  life 
in  an  off-hand,  easy  fashion,  as  if  things  could  be  set  up,  and  pulled 
down,  and  changed  without  much  anxiety  or  without  appealing  to 
the  deepest  affections  and  sometimes  the  tenderest  memories  of 
the  soul.  Caleb  referred  to  the  past ;  Caleb  said,  A  promise 
was  made  to  me  in  this  matter,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  that 
promise  was.  Mark  the  wonderful  consistency  of  Caleb’s  spirit. 
He  is  the  same  at  forty  and  at  eighty-five.  At  forty  he  was  a 
man  of  chivalrous  spirit :  a  tall  man  did  not  affright  him ;  he 
looked  upon  walled  cities  as  upon  paper  castles.  He  returned 
with  Joshua,  saying  to  Moses,  The  work  can  be  done.  All  the 
other  princes  or  heads  of  houses  had  ‘‘melted”  hearts;  their 
courage  had  gone  out  of  them ;  they  said,  The  people  are  very 
tall,  and  the  cities  are  very  strong,  and  there  is  no  more  spirit  in 
us.  But  Caleb  was  a  man  of  “  another  spirit.”  That  spirit  kept 
him  young  to  the  last  day  of  his  life.  King  David  wTas  called 
“  very  old  ”  at  seventy.  We  saw  in  our  last  reading  that  the 
word  “  old  ”  is  not  a  time-word ;  it  is  a  word  that  relates  to 
work,  and  to  the  effect  of  work  upon  the  worker.  The  wear 
and  tear  of  work  tells  terrifically  upon  some  natures ;  they  are 
so  intensely  devoted :  there  is  nothing  trifling  to  them  ;  every 
moment  brings  its  own  judgment,  every  day  its  own  solemn 
sense  of  destiny.  David  was  old  because  his  work  had  been  heavy. 
It  is  trouble  that  makes  men  old.  Where  is  there  a  man  that  says 
he  has  been  overborne  by  mere  work,  mere  labour  ?  But  a 
thousand  men  could  stand  up  /  challenged  to  reply  to  the  question 
whether  trouble  does  not  wear  down  the  spirit,  take  out  the 
very  strength  of  the  man,  and  make  him  old  at  five-and- 
twenty,  aged  and  venerable  at  half  a  century.  So  it  was 
with  Joshua.  He  took  hardly  to  the  work ;  it  was  a  great 


230 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xiv.  n. 


study  to  him  ;  he  did  nothing  perfunctorily  or  within  the  limits 
of  the  moment  for  the  moment’s  sake ;  all  he  did,  drew  blood 
— t(  virtue  ” — out  of  his  interior  nature.  So  it  was  with  king 
David  — “  very  old  ”  at  seventy.  Other  men  are  younger  as  the 
3'ears  pass  on  !  They  have  a  happy  way  of  working ;  they  are 
blessed  with  the  inestimable  blessing  of  cheerfulness  ;  they  are 
able  to  take  everything,  as  it  were,  with  a  light  hand  and  yet  not 
frivolously;  they  are  so  buoyant,  so  happy,  so  cheery  altogether, 
that,  whatever  comes,  they  approach  it  almost  with  friendliness, 
and  they  pass  through  controversy  as  if  it  were  but  a  variety 
of  life’s  pleasantness.  The  man  who  is  now  speaking  in  the 
text  is  eighty-five  years  old,  and  he  says  he  is  as  strong  as 
he  was  nearly  half  a  century  ago.  May  we  not  be  so  in  our 
degree  ?  Why  do  we  so  soon  give  up  the  work  ?  Why  this 
whining  after  rest,  this  desire  to  be  let  go,  to  be  let  alone, 
and  to  be  permitted  to  flee  into  the  wilderness  or  u  some 
boundless  contiguity  of  shade  ”  ?  To  touch  such  men  as  Caleb, 
is  to  receive  new  life,  new  hope.  The  cheerful  man  comes  into 
history,  bringing  a  warming  influence  with  him,  helping  men  to 
carry  their  burdens  more  resolutely  and  more  hopefully. 

But  perhaps  Caleb  was  simply  asserting  this  youthfulness 
in  order  that  he  might  claim  the  inheritance.  Did  he  affect 
juvenility?  Was  he  for  the  moment  buoyed  up  with  a  false 
hope  ?  The  answer  is  very  distinct,  and  there  is  no  escape 
from  it.  In  the  eleventh  verse  he  says, — 

u  As  yet  I  am  as  strong  this  day  as  I  was  in  the  day  that  Moses  sent  me : 
as  my  strength  was  then,  even  so  is  my  strength  now  ”  [what  for  ?]  “  for 
war,  both  to  go  out,  and  to  come  in.” 

It  is  a  soldier’s  speech.  It  is  not  the  utterance  of  a  man  who 
simply  wants  his  wages  and  then  to  be  allowed  to  luxuriate  amid 
the  uplands  of  Hebron.  Caleb  feels  the  old  war-horse  stirring 
within  him  :  I  am  eighty-five  and  as  strong  as  ever  for  war,  both 
to  go  out  and  to  come  in, — to  take  the  fortunes  of  the  day,  to  be  and 
to  do  what  the  times  would  suggest  and  justify.  So  this  boasted 
youthfulness  was  neither  an  affectation  nor  a  sentiment.  What 
did  Caleb  choose  ?  By  his  choice  we  shall  see  somewhat  into  his 
character.  Did  he  choose  a  garden  blown  upon  by  the  south-west 
wind  only — a  very  choice  and  well-screened  portion  in  the  new 


Josh.  xiv.  ii.] 


CALEB'S  CLAIM. 


23 1 


land  ?  He  chose  Hebron !  Those  who  have  read  the  history 
know  what  that  choice  meant.  Hebron  was  the  metropolis  of  the 
Anakim,  the  country  of  the  most  warlike  people  in  Southern 
Canaan.  Hebron  meant  difficulty.  For  the  moment,  the  Anakim 
had  withdrawn,  but  they  were  still  at  a  point  of  observation,  and 
their  intention  was  to  return  and  take  Hebron  andpts  lands.  Caleb, 
knowing  all  this,  said,  Send  me  where  there  is  most  danger.  As 
for  these  people  who  went  with  me — or,  at  least,  their  descend¬ 
ants,  for  there  is  probably  not  a  man  of  the  original  camp  left — 
they  would  be  affrighted  by  the  tall  Anakim  :  even  to-day  they 
would  be  as  cowardly  as  ever.  There  is  an  hereditj'-  of  cowardice, 
a  descent  of  meanness.  I  have  no  patience  with  these  people. 
Let  me  have  Hebron,  with  its  tall  warriors  and  its  defences  and 
its  positions  fortified  and  all  but  invulnerable ;  give  me  the  hard 
lot.  Now  we  know  the  meaning  of  his  boast.  We  want  some 
such  men  now.  We  must  not  dismiss  old  workers  who  are 
willing  to  continue  the  work.  Have  no  faith  in  any  Christian 
communion  that  wants  tp  get  rid  of  the  old  pastor  who  has  borne 
the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,  who  loved  and  strove  and 
suffered  long  before  many  of  his  critics  were  born.  And  this 
doctrine  would  admit  of  application  in  all  directions.  Remember 
the  men  who  cheered  you  in  darkness,  who  were  lights  in  the 
time  of  your  despair,  who  brought  you  grapes  from  the  land 
that  was  afar  off,  and  brought  you  the  true  wine  of  heaven, 
in  that  they  said,  This  work  can  be  done :  arise  and  do  it. 
Such  men  ought  not  to  be  treated  unkindly  or  discourteously. 
They  were  brave  men  in  their  day.  Some  of  them  are  as  3roung 
now  as  they  were  when  they  were  forty.  If  they  think  they  are 
young,  do  not  discourage  them ;  if  they  suppose  themselves  to  be 
as  deeply  interested  in  passing  questions  as  they  ever  were,  it  is 
not  ours  to  throw  them  into  dejection;  it  should  rather  be  ours 
to  encourage  them  and  bless  them,  for,  whatever  they  may  be 
to-day,  in  the  brave  days  of  old  they  were  our  soldiers,  and 
heads-men,  and  leaders.  When  they  ask  for  hard  work,  they 
prove  their  mettle. 

Who  can  estimate  the  indirect  influence  of  such  an  example  ? 
Indirect  influence  is  a  subject  we  do  not  perhaps  sufficiently 
consider.  There  is  a  direct  influence  which  is  much  spoken 
about  and  highly  valued,  and  not  improperly  so;  but  who  can 


232 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xiv.  n. 


tell  all  the  mystery  of  radiation  ?  Who  knows  in  what  direction 
the  warm  rays  shoot  ?  Who  can  follow  all  the  palpitation  of 
heat,  and  say  it  begins  here  and  ends  there  ?  Who  can  tell  the 
indirect  influence  of  Scripture  well  read,  of  a  Gospel  well 
preached,  of  a  life  well  lived  ?  There  are  observers  on  the  out¬ 
skirts.  The  prisoners  were  listening  whilst  the  apostles  were 
singing.  Taking  into  account  indirect  influence  as  well  as  direct 
service,  many  a  life  will  in  the  judgment  be  surprised  because 
God  attributes  to  it  the  outworking  of  so  many  and  such  gracious 
results.  Who  could  refuse  the  better  portions  of  Canaan  when 
Caleb  said,  “  I  will  take  the  hard  part.  Let  the  old  man 
grapple  with  the  difficulty.  As  for  these  young  people,  they  will 
get  younger  as  they  grow  older  perhaps  ;  they  will  become  more 
courageous  as  the  years  come  and  go.  Meanwhile,  I  will  take 
the  land  that  is  now  peopled  by  the  giants ;  and  in  the  strength  of 
God  I  will  subdue  the  land  and  make  it  part  of  the  inheritance  of 
heaven  ”  ?  We  want  to  hear  such  voices.  We  are  tired  of  the 
moaning  word,  the  despairing  note,  the  sign  of  dejection,  the 
cowardice  that  betrays  itself  even  in  the  voice.  Many  persons 
can  follow  a  tune  who  cannot  raise  one.  We  must  have  leaders, 
captains,  mighty  men.'  Who  knows  what  influence  Lebbaeus  had 
in  the  first  discipleship  ?  He  is  a  man  of  no  historical  account ; 
he  does  not  figure  among  the  three  mighties ;  but  “  Lebbasus  ’’ 
means  u  hearty,  cheerful.”  Who  can  tell  what  influence  the  man 
had  by  virtue  of  his  cheeriness  ?  We  are  not  all  speakers  ;  we 
do  not  all  go  to  the  front  and  lift  up  an  ensign  ;  but  many  help 
the  good  work  who  stay  at  home  and  make  the  house  glad,  make 
every  window  face  southward,  wherever  the  builder  has  made 
it  turn,  to  catch  all  in  the  sunshine.  Who  can  estimate  the 
influence  of  home  music,  home  love,  home  encouragement  ?  When 
we  go  home,  carrying  life’s  burden  with  us,  and  say  we  are 
now  exhausted  and  can  return  no  more,  who  knows  the  effect  of 
a  cheerful  word,  an  encouraging  expression  ?  These  things  are 
pointed  out  that  many  may  be  encouraged  who  suppose  they  are 
doing  nothing.  Apparently  they  are  not  engaged  in  much  public 
work  of  any  consequence ;  but  they  do  so  much  good  to  us  at 
home  or  on  the  highway :  we  never  met  them  in  the  dark  night 
but  they  brought  all  the  stars  out ;  we  never  spoke  to  them  in 
the  storm  but  within  the  tempest  there  was  a  great  calm.  Let 


Josh.  xiv.  8.] 


CALEB'S  CLAIM. 


233 


every  man  discover  what  his  gift  is,  and  his  vocation,  what  he  can 
do,  and  let  him  do  it  in  the  name  and  fear,  the  sight  and  love 
of  God. 

Who  could  give  up  when  the  senior  was  willing  to  go 
forward  ?  We  are  shamed  into  some  good  deeds.  Who  would 
give  anything  to  a  collection  if  the  congregation  was  not  present  ? 
Who  would  really  give  in  the  dark  ?  Some  people  would  :  the 
darkness  and  the  light  are  both  alike  to  them  ;  but  is  it  any 
libel  upon  human  nature  to  say  that  there  are  some  other  people 
who  would  not  do  it  ?  We  are  moved  by  example.  There  is  a 
subtle  contagion  in  social  unity  and  action.  We  thought  we 
would  not  go  out ;  but  seeing  Caleb  arraying  himself  for  the  night 
and  going  out  into  the  storm,  we  cannot  for  very  shame  stay  at 
home.  So  we  look  to  our  leaders,  our  senior  men,  to  be  young^ 
to  speak  the  glowing  word,  and  to  show  that  what  they  say  is 
not  sentimental,  but  real,  because  they  themselves  are  willing  to 
keep  the  door,  to  watch  the  gate,  to  stand  outside,  or  to  accept 
the  most  difficult  position.  Are  there  not  some  secondary  heroes 
in  the  Bible  ?  Very  little  is  said  about  Caleb.  There  are  three 
men  of  the  name  of  Caleb  in  the  Bible,  and  if  you  put  all 
the  three  Calebs  together  the  space  required  for  the  record 
of  their  deeds  would  not  be  a  large  one.  There  are  under¬ 
heroes,  men  who  are  not  of  the  stature  and  volume  and  force  of 
Elijah,  who  fills  the  whole  space  of  the  time  he  lived  in  :  but 
there  are  Calebs,  men  who  are  less,  and  yet  of  the  same  quality  ; 
men  who  have  accepted  Heaven’s  vocation  and  are  working  it  out 
with  a  rare  courage  and  a  sweet  patience.  May  such  a  word  as 
this  touch  many  a  man  who  is  wondering  what  he  is  doing,  and 
help  many  a  woman  to  believe  that  in  quietness  and  in  peace  in 
household  privacy  she  may  be  touching  with  helpfulness  some  of 
the  boldest  and  bravest  lives  of  the  time. 

What  was  the  secret  of  this  continual  cheerfulness  ?  It  was  a 
religious  secret.  Caleb  says, — 

“Nevertheless,  my  brethren  that  went  np  with  me  made  the  heart  of  the 
people  melt :  but  I  wholly  followed  the  Lord  my  God  ”  (v.  8). 

When  does  God  allow  a  man  to  grow  old  in  any  sense  that 
involves  contempt  or  insignificance  or  worthlessness  ?  No  man 
grows  old  at  the  altar.  The  Church,  properly  understood  in  all 


23  4 


7  HE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Josh.  xiv.  8. 


its  relations  and  activities,  is  the  ground  where  grows  perennial 
youthfulness.  When  did  the  aged  preacher  say  he  could  find 
nothing  more  in  the  Bible  ?  The  blessed  difficulty  is  this  :  that 
the  older  we  grow,  the  larger  the  Bible  becomes ;  the  more  we 
read  it,  the  less  we  seem  to  have  perused  it ;  we  want  to  begin 
at  the  very  beginning  again  and  go  through  all  the  music,  so 
enchanting  is  it,  so  inspiring,  yet  so  soothing.  The  religious 
man  ought  to  be  young.  The  religious  man  is  bound  for  the 
heaven  of  God,  for  immortality ;  he  must  not  die  into  nothingness, 
into  extinction ;  he  must  live  upwards,  so  that  when  he  dies  he 
ascends.  Herein  I  would  not  hesitate  to  preach  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  what  may  be  termed  its  spiritually  sanitary 
aspects.  Christianity  keeps  the  soul  clean,  pure,  healthy.  Chris¬ 
tianity  will  not  abide  in  the  heart  with  any  enemy  of  Christ  ; 
there  will  be  controversy,  all-night  fighting,  but  Dagon  must  go 
down ;  the  Spirit  of  Christ  will  not  abide  peacefully  by  truce  or 
compromise  in  any  heart  in  which  is  hidden  iniquity.  For 
bright  faces,  for  kindling  eyes,  for  voices  having  in  them  soul 
and  expressiveness,  to  what  can  we  look  as  we  can  look  to  the 
Christianity  of  the  New  Testament — the  moral  precepts  and 
doctrines  of  the  holy  record  ?  A  beautiful  image  is  this :  u  I 
wholly  followed  the  Lord  my  God.”  The  Bible  is  a  pictorial 
book.  Nearly  all  the  words  are  pictures.  Most  of  the  proper 
names  certainly  are  pictorial  or  illustrative.  Many  of  the 
references  belong  to  the  same  class.  What  is  the  image  under¬ 
lying  the  words  of  Caleb  ?  “I  wholly  followed  the  Lord  my 
God,”  equal  to,  “  I  was  like  a  ship  in  full  sail  and  going  straight 
on.”  The  figure  was  worthy  of  the  man.  He  was  not  halting, 
beating  about  the  shore,  wondering  where  he  could  find  a  night’s 
refuge,  or  how  he  could  escape  the  voyage  altogether.  He  said, 
When  I  w’as  forty  years  old  my  life  might  be  described  as  a  ship 
in  full  sail,  the  wind  blowing  it  on  to  the  desired  haven  ;  what 
I  was  at  forty,  I  am  at  eighty-five  :  not  a  sail  taken  in,  not  a 
wandering  thought,  not  a  divided  affection  ;  as  I  was  then,  so  am 
I  now  :  so  I  claim  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  spoken  five-and- 
forty  years  ago.  'Did  Joshua  say,  “  No ;  many  things  have 
happened  since  then  ”  ? — a  politician’s  base  excuse  under  some 
circumstances  for  not  carrying  out  his  word,  or  doing  what  he 
once  promised  to  do.  No.  He  said,  (t  This  is  right,  and  because 


Josh.  xiv.  8.] 


CALEB'S  CLAIM. 


235 


it  is  right,  it  must  be  done.”  And  it  was  not  done  with  the  right 
hand  only,  but  with  the  left  hand  as  well ;  and  not  with  the 
right  hand  and  the  left  hand  only,  but  with  the  right  hand,  the 
left  hand,  and  the  whole  heart. 

So  Caleb’s  cheerfulness  was  met  by  a  buoyancy  equal  to  itself, 
and  Hebron  was  given  to  him  with  a  blessing  breathed  from  the 
sincere  heart.  Is  not  many  a  blessing  kept  from  us  because  we 
have  not  been  like  a  ship  in  full  sail  ?  Have  not  our  iniquities 
kept  good  things  from  us  ?  How  can  we  claim  the  inheritance  if 
we  have  never  been  ready  for  the  battle  ?  And  why  should  we 
sit  in  contemptuous  judgment  upon  the  Calebs  of  any  age,  when  we 
have  not  known  the  stress  that  was  put  upon  them,  or  entered 
into  their  labour,  which  made  their  lives  oftentimes  a  great 
burden  ?  Understand  that  we  have  come  into  an  inheritance  of 
history.  We  enjoy  a  Hebron  that  has  been  made  for  us.  The 
civilisation  round  about  us  to-day  is  none  of  our  handiwork ;  at 
the  best  we  have  only  put  a  kind  of  top  upon  it.  To-day  gathers 
up  into  its  throbbing  heart  the  energy  of  all  the  centuries  that 
have  gone.  Blessed  are  they  who  live  under  the  inspiration  of 
this  idea.  They  will  be  grateful  to  their  forefathers ;  their 
forefathers  will  not  be  spoken  of  as  dead  men,  but  as  men  who 
are  now  living  and  historically  ruling  the  sentiment  of  their  age. 
One  thing  is  certain  :  God  will  not  forsake  a  man  who  has  been 
“  wholly  ”  devoted  to  him.  God  knows  the  number  of  Caleb’s 
years,  and  the  promise  shall  be  redeemed.  O  poor  heart, 
wondering  when  the  good  time  is  to  come,  wheyi  Hebron  is  to 
fall  in  as  part  of  the  inheritance,  thinking  the  time  is  long, 
long  in  coming,  and  there  may  not  be  many  days  left  in  which 
to  enjoy  the  heritage,  take  courage  !  God  knows  every  word 
he  has  spoken.  He  is  not  unfaithful  or  unrighteous  to  forget 
our  works  of  faith  and  labours  of  love.  When  he  does  bring 
in  the  inheritance,  he  will  surprise  us  by  it.  It  will  be  no  mere 
handful  of  mud,  no  little  measurable  Canaan,  but  all  heaven’s 
blessedness,  all  heaven’s  purity,  all  heaven’s  music.  Cheer  thee ! 
He  is  faithful  who  hath  promised ;  he  is  able  to  do  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  we  are  not  discomfited  because  the  lot  is  cast  into  the  lap 
and  the  disposing  thereof  is  of  the  Lord  ;  instead  of  being  disquieted,  we  are 
at  rest :  this  is  right,  this  is  best ;  not  our  will,  but  thine,  be  done.  We 
would  desire  to  dwell  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  hill,  and  to  find  out  where 
the  rivers  flow  all  the  year  long,  and  where  the  soil  is  garden-land  ;  but 
thou  dost  put  some  men  in  the  wilderness,  and  some  upon  the  mountain-top, 
and  some  in  stony  and  rugged  places.  The  earth  is  the  Lord’s  and  the  ful¬ 
ness  thereof.  Every  place  is  praying-ground,  every  stone  is  an  altar,  and 
everywhere  there  are  paths  straight  up  to  heaven.  We  desire  to  see  in  our 
lot  God’s  law,  God’s  will.  We  are  here, — we  want  to  be  there  ;  but  thou 
dost  say,  No,  abide  on  thy  lot  unto  the  end  of  the  day ;  be  a  good  and  faithful 
servant,  and  heaven  shall  find  thee  room.  This  is  thy  sweet  word.  It 
makes  us  glad  and  strong  ;  it  fills  the  night  with  great  stars;  it  makes  the  winter 
a  kind  of  summer.  Once  we  did  not  understand  all  this,  and  we  chafed  as 
a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke  ;  now  our  eyes  are  opened :  we  see  that 
God  is  King,  and  Lord,  and  Father,  Shepherd,  Friend,  Companion,  that  there 
is  but  one  throne,  and  that  it  is  established  upon  righteousness.  Now,  come 
weal,  come  woe,  we  are  not  far  from  God.  The  cup  is  sometimes  bitter,  but 
thou  canst  help  us  to  drain  it  every  drop  ;  sometimes  the  cross  is  heavy,  but 
thou  dost  send  a  friend  to  lift  it  for  us,  at  least  for  a  day  or  two ;  sometimes 
the  road  is  all  roses  and  song  and  joy,  the  very  dust  of  the  ground  leaping  up 
in  praise,  and  then  all  is  heavenliness  ; — whether  it  be  thus  or  otherwise, 
guide  us  with  thine  eye,  preserve  us  by  thy  grace,  give  us  comfort  in  all 
sorrow,  and  chastening  in  highest  ecstasy.  Work  within  us  all  the  good 
pleasure  of  thy  will.  Give  us  the  joy  that  comes  of  rational  obedience,  and 
the  higher  joy  that  comes  of  loving  faith.  Give  us  some  touch  of  heaven 
even  upon  the  earth;  surprise  us  by  some  little  flower  that  cannot  have 
grown  under  these  cold  skies,  some  leaf  from  paradise,  rich  with  fragrance 
from  above ;  then  we  shall  be  young  again,  and  strong  and  mighty,  and 
though  the  enemy  have  chariots  of  iron  we  shall  drive  him  out,  and  God 
shall  have  the  praise.  Help  every  man  to  see  life  broadly,  clearly,  and  hope¬ 
fully;  enable  every  one  of  us  to  lay  hold  of  it  with  a  strong  man’s  hand  ; 
keep  us  from  all  fear,  fainting,  dejection ;  take  not  the  spirit  of  hope  from  us  : 
may  it  dwell  within  us,  and  sing  to  us,  and  make  us  glad.  We  can  ask  all 
this  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  who  carried  our  sorrows,  who' bore  our  sins  in  his 
own  body  on  the  tree.  He  taught  us  to  call  thee  Father,  and  to  ask  great 
things  of  thee,  yea,  even  to  ask  the  Holy  Ghost — all  gifts  in  cne.  Jesus  is  our 
Saviour;  Jesus  died  for  us.  We  know  not  all  the  meaning  of  this  Cross  of 
his,  but  in  the  night-time  of  tempest  and  sorrow  and  loneliness,  there  is 
nothing  so  grand,  so  good,  so  comforting.  Amen. 


Josh,  xv.-xix.] 


DISTRIBUTION. 


237 


Joshua  xv.-xix. 


DISTRIBUTION. 


OOKING  at  these  chapters  is  like  looking  at  infinite  rocks. 


J _ j  Most  stony  are  these  verses.  The  eye  is  affrighted  by 

these  Hebrew  and  other  polysyllables.  The  land  is  being 
allotted  and  distributed.  Why  then  dwell  upon  a  picture 
whose  chief  feature  seems  to  be  its  inhospitableness  ?  Because 
the  picture  is  full  of  suggestion,  and  full  of  abiding  and  useful 
truth.  One  tribe  is  ordered  to  the  right  hand,  another  to  the 
left ;  one  north,  another  south  ;  one  into  the  valley,  another  to 
the  mountains ;  one  to  places  where  fountains  spring,  another 
is  commanded  to  go  to  the  wood  country  and  cut  down  trees 
and  clear  a  space  for  itself — make  a  civilisation.  This  is  but 
an  analogy  of  higher  distributions.  Is  there  not  a  great  law 
of  distribution  in  all  human  life  ?  We  have  but  to  open  our 
eyes  and  look  upon  it.  We  cannot  alter  it.  We  may  here  and 
there  modify  it  a  little,  or  pass  laws  concerning  it,  or  make  it 
a  subject  of  scientific  inquiry  :  but  there  is  the  law,  and  there 
is  no  lasting  escape  from  its  operation.  Nor  need  there  be  in 
order  to  prove  the  goodness  of  God  and  the  riches  of  his 
mercy.  The  whole  globe  is  allotted.  Every  continent  has  its 
own  people,  every  is’land  its  own  socialism.  Wherever  man 
can  be  placed  he  is  set  down  there  by  a  law  which  he  cannot 
control — a  marvellous,  but  gracious  predestination.  We  feel  it 
to  be  so.  Who  does  not  know  a  foreigner  the  moment  he 
sees  him  ?  We  say  within  ourselves,  if  not  in  articulate  speech, 
This  man  is  a  long  way  from  home.  Who  said  so  ?  By  what 
right  do  we  determine  his  relation  to  the  globe  ?  We  cannot 
tell,  but  we  do  it.  Instantaneously  we  see  that  the  man  has 
come  from  over  seas  thousands  of  miles  away ;  his  colour, 
his  dress,  his  aspect — something  about  him  says,  I  do  not 
belong  to  this  part  of  the  land,  I  am  a  foreigner  here  :  have 
regard  for  me  upon  that  ground ;  I  speak  your  language  im¬ 
perfectly  :  do  not  impose  upon  me  because  of  my  ignorance, 
but  guide  me,  protect  me,  and  show  me  hospitality  whilst  I 
linger  within  your  borders.  Who  made  the  difference  ?  What 
is  the  meaning  of  the  difference  ?  Why  are  some  men  put  in 


238 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh,  xv.-xix. 


tropical  climates,  and  others  are  set  among  the  eternal  ice  ? 
And  why  this  spirit  of  contentment  more  or  less  evident  in 
every  land  ?  Because,  whilst  we  would  regard  the  man  as  a 
foreigner,  we  must  remember  that,  were  we  visiting  his  country, 
he  would  regard  us,  even  us — great  and  glorious  and  all  but 
infallible  Englishmen — as  foreign  !  It  is  sad  to  think  of!  It  is 
sometimes  intolerable.  But  even  an  Englishman  may  happen  to 
know  the  mystery  of  the  misfortune  of  being  a  foreigner  in  some 
parts  of  the  world — an  idea  almost  impossible  to  drive  into  the 
English  mind,  for  an  Englishman,  whilst  hating  all  boasting  on  the 
part  of  other  people,  spends  his  time  in  boasting  about  himself. 
But  there  is  the  law — the  unwritten  law — the  imperious  and  un¬ 
changeable  law.  The  bounds  of  our  habitation  are  fixed.  We 
are  tethered  to  certain  localities ;  we  have  a  fatherland,  whether 
it  be  here  or  there ;  we  have  an  appointed  place,  where  our 
dead  are  buried,  where  our  battles  are  fought,  where  our 
progress  is  developed  :  hence  the  spirit  of  patriotism — that 
marvellous  spirit  that  burns  within  us  when  the  country  is  the 
question.  We  feel,  therefore,  in  perusing  silently  these  wondrous 
chapters  in  Joshua  that  distribution  is  perfectly  familiar  to  us  : 
we  see  it  in  every  part  of  the  globe;  we  see  it  in  men,  in 
animals,  in  plants.  There  is  no  monotony  in  the  divine  allot¬ 
ment  ;  it  burns  with  colour ;  and  in  so  far  as  it  accepts  the  law,  it 
throbs  with  music,  with  lofty,  grateful  song. 

So  it  is  with  talent  and  faculty.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  as 
a  man  who  took  his  journey  into  a  far  country,  and  distributed 
to  his  servants  various  talents — to  one  five,  to  another  two,  to 
another  one, — to  every  man  according  to  his  several  ability. 
There  is  the  fact.  Why  enter  into  pedantic  discussions  about 
the  parable,  and  the  allotment,  and  the  outworking  of  the  little 
drama  ?  Here  in  our  own  circle  and  within  our  own  conscious¬ 
ness  we  have  the  parable  itself  in  every  detail  and  syllable.  We 
may  covet  one  another’s  allotment,  but  we  cannot  cross  the  hedge, 
or  steal  the  talent  that  we  envy.  Who  would  not  play  upon  the 
musician’s  harp  ?  Who  would  not  wear  a  poet’s  mantle  ?  Who 
would  not  dream  great  dreams,  the  very  beauty  of  which  creates 
a  language  of  its  own,  purifying  all  common  terms  and  making 
refined  gold  of  them,  and  jewels  precious  as  rubies  ?  Who 
would  not  be  a  great  merchantman,  knowing  things,  as  it  were, 


Josh,  xv.-xix.] 


DISTRIBUTION. 


239 


without  study  ?  Where  other  men  toil  towards  conclusions,  the 
greater  mind  moves  to  them  with  natural  ease  and  dignity,  seizes 
them  and  applies  them  to  wealth-producing  purposes.  Who 
would  not  be  the  heroic  soul  that  never  goes  out  but  wdien  the 
wind  blows  from  the  north,  and  then  in  great  gusts  and  thunder- 
blasts  ? — the  man  who  would  not  sail  over  a  smooth  sea,  but 
wait  till  the  wind  seizes  the  infinite  deep  and  torments  it  into 
agony  ?  Who  would  not  be  so  brave  as  to  wait  till  the  war  is  at 
the  thickest,  and  then  plunge  into  the  very  midst  of  it,  and  ask 
only  for  the  privilege  of  fighting  the  strongest  man  ?  But  we 
cannot  interfere  with  the  operation  of  the  law.  Some  men 
cannot  sing  :  there  is  no  poetry  in  their  being  ;  they  never 
dream ;  they  never  see  heaven  opened  and  the  Son  of  man 
standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  they  never  rise  to  that  high 
ecstasy  which  treats  miracles  as  trifles,  as  occurrences  that  trans¬ 
pired  millions  of  miles  beneath  them.  Others  are  without 
courage,  except  the  courage  of  subtle  impertinence,  which 
suggests  that  everything  must  be  attempered  to  the  r  timidity, 
and  nothing  must  be  done  that  can  affright  their  souls.  Did  they 
but  know  they  were  mean  and  small  and  worthless,  they  might 
be  forgiven,  but  they  do  not,  and  therefore  they  keep  society  at 
pra}rer,  for  nothing  but  the  profoundest  prayer  can  enable  us  to 
tolerate  their  presence.  Why  is  not  every  man  as  able  as  his 
brother?  Why  is  one  man  eloquent,  and  another  speechless? 
Why  is  one  man  gifted  with  the  power  of  acquisitiveness  in  intel¬ 
lectual  directions,  and  another  unable  to  learn  his  first  lesson  ?  If 
we  imagine  that  all  these  things  can  be  rectified,  in  the  sense  of 
making  all  men  equal,  we  shall  toil  at  abortive  reforms,  and  have 
nothing  at  the  end  but  empty  hands  and  disappointed  hearts. 
The  question  is,  What  can  be  done  ?  What  is  the  divine  will  ? 
Or,  if  we  shrink  from  theological  or  biblical  terms,  still  we  need 
not  surrender  our  reason  :  we  might  stand  back  and  make  a 
philosophy  of  that  of  which  we  decline  to  make  a  theology  :  the 
conclusion  is  the  same  ;  the  fact  abides. 

The  same  law  applies  to  distribution  in  heaven.  All  the 
beings,  white-robed,  unstained,  beautiful  with  purity,  do  not 
stand  upon  an  equal  plane  in  the  celestial  country.  There  are 
angels  and  archangels  ;  cherubim  and  seraphim  ;  beings  all  fire, 
beings  all  vision,  typical  of  wisdom  all  but  immeasurable ;  quick- 


240 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh,  xv.-xix. 


flying  angels  speeding  with  messages  from  the  throne,  and 
brooding  spirits  hovering  over  our  life,  appointed  to  watch  little 
children  :  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of 
Christ’s  Father.  In  heaven  there  is  variety  of  mental  stature, 
spiritual  service, — a  great  distribution  of  faculty  and  force  and 
ministry.  And  this  is  essential,  from  our  point  of  view,  to  a 
complete  and  beautiful  heaven.  We  must  give  up  the  idea  of 
monotony.  If  we  still  think  of  heaven  as  a  place  of  harps  and 
harping  and  songs,  we  are  quite  right,  the  meaning  being  that 
all  true  life  blossoms  up  into  song  :  we  could  not  complete  any 
pillar  of  logic  or  of  fact  without  putting  upon  the  top  of  it  the 
lilywork  of  music  and  gladness  and  victory.  We  have  painted 
heavens  the  colour  of  which  wears  off,  monotonous  heavens  that 
become  burdensome,  small  heavens  picked  out  for  ourselves  and 
our  friends.  We  must  burn  these  heavens,  and  let  them  pass 
away  with  a  small  noise,  for  such  heavens  could  never  make  a 
great  one.  The  true  heaven  is  one  of  glorified  earth,  glorified 
facts  as  we  know  them ;  heaven  of  variety  and  position, 
locality,  service.  We  know  now  what  it  is.  We  do  not  need  to 
die  to  be  in  heaven,  or  to  know  it  and  speak  about  it  familiarly  : 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  -is  within,  in  the  deepest,  truest,  most 
living  sense.  There  are  father-spirits,  and  mother-angels,  and 
little  people — children  playing.  The  child  that  does  not  play 
ought  to  be  looked  after,  and  the  case  should  be  inquired  into 
with  awful  solemnity.  Children  must  play  everywhere — at 
church  and  in  heaven.  A  glorious  paradise  that,  by  reason  of  its 
variety,  personality,  faculty,  and  colour,  and  engagement !  In  it 
there  is  room  for  you,  for  me,  for  greatest,  smallest,  richest, 
poorest  : — “  in  my  Father’s  house  are  many  mansions  :  if  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  have  told  you.” 

Remember  that  every  man  begins  with  gifts.  This  is  the  very 
law  of  these  chapters  of  allotment.  The  people  have  something 
to  begin  with..  No  man  made  his  first  dowry  ;  it  was  in  him, 
or  handed  to  him  ;  he  did  nothing  towards  the  first  germ,  the 
plasm  of  his  fortune  and  his  destiny.  This  is  often  forgotten  in 
estimating  human  position  and  human  progress.  Every  man  has 
a  faculty  given  to  him — a  first  thing — a  nest-egg — a  wonderful 
beginning  !  God  gives  us  the  light,  the  air,  the  land,  the  sea. 
We  did  not  kindle  the  sun ;  we  do  not  loose  the  winds  from 


Josh.  xv.  1 6.] 


DISTRIB  UTION. 


241 


their  tabernacles ;  and  no  man  ever  made  one  inch  of  land,  or 
added  one  pebble  to  the  earth’s  surface.  In  this  particular  we 
are  very  limited  and  very  small.  Think  !  the  man  who  built 
the  greatest  cathedral  that  ever  domed  itself  out  towards  the 
skies  never  added  an  atom  to  the  sum-total  of  the  earth.  He 
worked  with  stones  that  were  laid  up  for  him,  banked  for  him 
in  the  treasure-house  of  the  earth.  So  when  the  Lord  goes  into 
a  far  country  he  leaves  with  every  man  something  which  the 
man  did  not  make — five  talents,  two  talents,  one  talent,  whatever 
it  may  be;  that  germ  or  starting-point  or  protoplasm  was  given. 
So  we  begin  with  grace,  privilege.  We  are  trustees  to  start 
with.  With  all  this  ability  and  wonderful  inventiveness  we 
have  never  invented  a  new  pebble,  in  the  sense  of  adding  to  the 
earth’s  stones  something  that  was  not  in  the  earth  and  hidden 
there  by  its  Maker.  If  we  leave  that  central  or  primal  thought, 
we  get  into  detail  that  vexes  us,  then  we  begin  to  manipulate 
and  rearrange  and  redistribute ;  but  it  all  comes  at  last  to  this 
fact,  that  every  man  has  something  to  start  with, — a  wealth  that 
cannot  be  communicated,  a  property  his  alone;  and  that  must 
be  inquired  into  at  the  final  audit. 

Some  possessions  come  as  rewards  : — - 

“  And  Caleb  said,  He  that  smiteth  Kirjath-sepher,  and  taketh  it,  to  him  will 
I  give  Achsah  my  daughter  to  wife  ”  (xv.  1 6). 

There  begins  the  test  of  talent  and  force  and  quality  in  men. 
The  speech  is,  Come,  now  !  the  palm  be  to  the  brave,  the  crown 
to  him  who  wins  it.  Up  to  a  certain  point  all  things  seem  to  be 
appointed,  settled,  almost  arbitrarily  distributed  ;  but  then  there 
are  chances  in  life  that  seem  to  come  afterwards,  as  it  were, 
amongst  ourselves,  competitions  of  a  personal  and  social  kind. 
How  early  this  competitive  spirit  was  developed,  and  how 
wonderfully  it  has  been  preserved  through  all  history !  The 
spirit  of  Providence  seems  to  say,  in  homeliest  language,  now  and 
again,  Here  is  a  chance  for  you ;  you  had  something  to  begin 
with,  to  that  you  can  add  more,  by  pluck,  bravery,  force, — to  the 
war!  We  need  such  voices;  otherwise  we  would  soon  slumber 
off,  and  doze  away  our  handful  of  years,  and  awake  to  find  that 
the  day  had  gone.  So  voices  appeal  to  us  continually,  Here  is 
reward  for  you  :  he  who  is  up  earliest  in  the  morning  shall  have 

VOL.  V.  16 


f 


242  THE  PEOPLE' S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xv.  63. 


this ;  he  who  has  most  staying  power  shall  have  the  prize  which 
I  now  exhibit ;  he  who  can  take  the  most  strongly-fortified 
city  shall  have  this  crown — all  gold,  except  where  lit  up  with 
diamonds.  We  know  that  this  offer  is  made  ;  we  are  aware  that 
these  opportunities  do  exist.  Now  if  they  who  obey  such  calls 
do  it  to  obtain  a  corruptible  crown,  what  shall  they  do  who  are 
called  to  the  possession  of  an  incorruptible  ?  If  before  running 
a  race,  or  engaging  in  a  wrestle,  men  subject  themselves  to 
discipline,  diet  themselves,  allow  themselves  to  be  directed, 
controlled,  and  overborne  by  another  energy  and  wisdom,  what 
should  they  do  who  say  they  are  striving  for  heaven,  fighting 
for  a  crown  of  life,  aspiring  for  celestial  citizenship  ? 

Compromises  are  sometimes  inevitable.  This  is  made  clear 
by  the  sixty-third  verse  of  the  fifteenth  chapter  : — 

“As  for  the  Jebusites  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  children  of  Judah 
could  not  drive  them  out :  but  the  Jebusites  dwell  with  the  children  of 
Judah  at  Jerusalem  unto  this  day.” 

Here  the  mysterious  alliances  begin  which  mark  our  life.  We 
do  not  know  how  it  is,  but  there  are  some  forces  we  cannot 
expel ;  we  are  obliged  to  make  truce  and  compromise  and 
workable  arrangement.  It  is  so.  Why  dispute  it  ?  We  cannot 
have  everything  four-square,  snow-white,  absolute  in  heaven- 
liness  or  righteousness.  The  Jebusite  will  elbow  the  children 
of  Judah.  Good  may  come  out  of  all  this,  in  the  sense  ot 
wonderful  educational  influence  and  social  modifications  and 
chastisements.  How  many  men  there  are  whom  we  almost 
want  to  die,  and  die  they  will  not !  We  see  fair  creatures  dying 
— sweet  innocent  things,  flowers  of  heaven  upon  earth,  wither 
away ;  and  there  are  stubborn  lives,  perverted,  conceived  in  a 
false  key,  operating  upon  mischievous  lines, — and  the  night  dew 
will  not  damp  them,  the  fogs  of  winter  will  not  choke  them,  they 
escape  perils  on  land  and  perils  on  sea.  Why  do  the  wicked 
live  ?  Why  do  men  who  are  apparently  useless  and  mischie¬ 
vous  live  ?  Why  is  poverty  continued  ?  There  may  be  many 
answers  to  these  questions,  but  all  the  answers  seem  to  leave  the 
mystery  where  we  found  it.  Life  now  in  this  part  of  its  educa¬ 
tional  process  is  often  a  compromise.  How  then  shall  it  be  ? 
Shall  the  Jebusite  overpower  Judah,  or  Judah  overpower  the 


Josh.  xv.  63.] 


DISTRIB  UTION. 


243 


Jebusite,  or  shall  they  both  grow  together  until  the  harvest  ? 
We  must  not  carry  on  works  of  destruction.  Men  are  not  to  be 
killed  out  of  the  way.  Even  the  worst  men  are  not  to  be 
despatched  by  poison.  There  is  a  mystery  which  God  will 
solve  ;  but  this  we  can  do  :  we  can  so  grow  in  the  grace  of  God 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  we  shall  be 
able  to  throw  off  all  the  baleful  influence  which  otherwise  would 
fall  fatally  upon  us  by  associations  we  are  obliged  to  maintain 
u  Why  eateth  your  Master  with  publicans  and  sinners  ?  ”  Why 
does  he  not  kill  them  off  the  face  of  the  earth  ?  Instead  of  doing 
so,  he  goes  to  be  guest  with  a  man  that  is  a  sinner.  That  is 
true ;  he  can  do  it,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  God  :  the  sunlight  is 
not  afraid  to  go  anywhere  ;  the  wind  cannot  blow  out  that  candle 

of  the  Lord.  Our  little  lights  sway  in  the  wind  and  die  in  the 

cold,  but  the  sunbeam  looks  upon  carrion,  and  yet  is  pure ; 

heaven’s  mid-day  looks  upon  hell,  but  receives  no  taint.  By 

Christly  character,  by  Christly  pureness,  by  Christly  consecration 
we  can  live  even  with  the  Jebusite  :  he  cannot  harm  us,  so  long 
as  we  are  Christ-like ;  we  may  do  him  good,  for  love  is  mighty  :  an 
eloquent  tongue  hath  love,  charged  with  the  power  of  persuasive¬ 
ness  ;  and  pureness  has  wonderful  influence,  operating  day  by 
day  as  it  does,  with  the  most  sacred  and  sacrificial  constancy. 
What  if  one  day  we  should  say  concerning  the  Jebusite,  "  Behold, 
he  prayeth”  ?  Sad  will  it  be  for  us  if  the  Jebusite  should  say, 
“  Behold,  he  hesitates  in  prayer ;  we  have  mocked  him  so  long 
that  he  is  now  afraid  of  his  own  faith  :  we  shall  win  at  last.” 
Oh,  tell  it  not  in  Gath,  publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Askelon  ;  lest 
the  daughters  of  Philistia  rejoice,  saying  that  the  men  of  prayer 
have  been  mocked  into  unbelief,  and  the  men  of  high  profession 
and  noble  character  have  been  brought  down  by  arrows  skilfully 
shot  by  arms  that  are  mighty.  We  accept  the  lot :  not  our  will, 
but  thine,  be  done.  Whether  the  talent  is  five  in  number,  or 
two,  or  one,  give  us  the  cheerful,  grateful  heart  that  goes  to  work 
with  a  will,  and  that  finds  its  heaven,  not  in  the  number  of  the 
talents,  but  in  their  happy  and  beneficent  use. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  in  whom  can  we  put  our  trust  but  in  the  Living  One  ? 
Death  is  written  upon  all  other  securities.  Thou  remainest  evermore  the 
same,  and  in  thy  righteousness  is  no  change.  We  hasten  therefore  unto 
thee  as  men  hasten  to  the  rock  in  which  they  can  be  protected  against  the 
tempest  and  the  storm.  Thou  art  indeed  a  refuge  from  the  tempest.  Thou 
dost  hide  thy  people  in  thy  pavilion  from  the  strife  of  tongues ;  thou  dost 
call  them  into  the  chamber  in  the  rock  until  the  storm  be  overpast.  Enable 
us  to  take  refuge  in  the  Son  of  God,  to  find  our  home  and  our  heaven  in  his 
protection ;  and  thus  shall  our  life  be  spent  wisely,  and  our  strength  shall  go 
out  from  us  to  return  again  abundantly  enriched  and  honoured.  We  would 
live  in  thy  fear,  we  would  work  in  thy  love,  we  would  be  comforted  with  thy 
consolations  and  none  other.  Heal  our  diseases ;  direct  our  steps ;  keep  us 
in  the  time  of  strife,  and  give  us  solidity  of  confidence  in  the  day  of  distress. 
We  bless  thee  for  all  thy  care,  so  patient,  so  tender,  so  minute,  covering  all 
things,  and  attending  to  each  as  if  it  were  a  solitary  concern.  This  is  thy 
greatness,  thou  Infinite  One,  that  nothing  is  too  little  for  thy  notice.  We  put 
ourselves  into  thy  hands.  We  would  have  no  will  of  our  own ;  we  would 
listen  for  thy  voice  morning,  noon,  and  night,  and  answer  it  with  the  readi¬ 
ness  of  love.  We  own  our  sins.  We  will  not  count  them,  for  no  number 
can  set  them  forth ;  nor  will  we  speak  of  them,  for  we  cannot  state  them  as 
they  are  in  thy  sight;  but  we  will  look  towards  the  Cross  of  Christ;  we  will 
fix  our  attention  upon  the  Son  of  God  as  he  expires  in  agony.  When  sin 
torments  us  most,  we  will  remember  what  Jesus,  Son  of  man,  Son  of  God,  did 
in  Gethsemane  and  on  the  Cross,  and  therein  shall  we  find  perpetual  comfort. 
Enable  thy  servants  to  work  better  than  they  have  ever  done.  Enable  all  to 
whom  the  ministry  of  suffering  is  entrusted  to  suffer  patiently,  unmurmuringly, 
and  hopefully ;  yea,  may  they  so  suffer  as  to  awaken  the  wonder  of  those 
who  look  on,  because  of  gentleness,  meekness,  and  patience.  When  we  read 
thy  Book,  first  read  it  to  us,  utter  the  music  in  our  souls ;  then  shall  we  see 
thy  meaning,  and  answer  it  instantly  and  lovingly.  Remain  with  us ;  yea, 
tarry  with  us,  lingeringly,  as  if  thou  couldst  not  leave  us  :  and  in  that  linger¬ 
ing  we  shall  see  a  pledge  of  eternal  fellowship.  Amen. 

Joshua  xv.-xix. 

THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  LAND. 


WE  have  taken  our  first  survey  of  the  distribution  of  the 
land,  and  noticed  several  particulars  of  some  consequence 
to  ourselves ;  other  particulars  are  now  to  be  noticed.  The 


Josh. xv.-xix.]  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  ZAND. 


245 


inquiry  will  be,  How  far  the  distribution  and  the  particulars 
associated  with  it  are  true  to  human  nature  as  we  know  it. 
In  answering  this  inquiry  we  shall  soon  see  whether  the  Bible 
is  an  old  book,  in  the  sense  of  being  obsolete  and  pointless,  so 
far  as  the  conditions  and  requirements  of  this  day  are  concerned. 
The  case  is  a  very  simple  one.  The  land  is  to  be  divided  among 
a  given  number  of  people.  How  they  took  the  distribution 
or  accepted  the  circumstances  is  an  important  inquiry. 

We  soon  come  upon  a  line  that  might  have  been  written 
yesterday.  It  was  not  enough  to  have  a  great  general  distribu¬ 
tion,  but  there  must  be  some  particular  and  singular  allotment,  to 
one  person  at  least.  She  had  a  petition  to  offer;  she  offered 
it,  and  the  supplication  was  answered.  She  asked  through 
another  a  request  from  her  father.  Her  father  had  received  his 
portion,  even  Hebron  and  the  region  round  about,  and  his 
daughter  Achsah  would  have  a  little  gift  all  her  own.  She 
would  say,  “  Give  me  a  blessing.”  That  is  vague.  Not  only 
would  she  have  a  benediction,  but  a  portion — quite  a  little  one, 
but  still  a  portion,  belonging,  as  it  were,  to  herself — a  jewel  for 
her  own  neck,  a  ring  for  her  own  finger.  Who  does  not  like 
to  have  something  particularly  his  own  ?  It  is  well  to  have 
some  general  stake  in  the  country,  but  to  have  a  little  private 
piece  of  land — one  little  bubbling,  singing,  fountain ;  a  corner 
quite  one’s  own — is  not  that  the  very  joy  of  proprietorship  ? 
No  doubt  there  is  a  general  sense  of  wealth,  so  general  indeed 
as  to  be  of  little  particular  service  under  the  occasional  pressure 
of  necessity  :  but  when  the  child  has  six  inches  of  garden-land 
all  its  own  at  the  back-door,  there  is,  after  all,  a  landlordly 
feeling  in  the  young  heart  that  finds  frequent  expression.  Caleb’s 
daughter  would  have  “  a  field  :  ”  “  she  lighted  off  her  ass ; 
and  Caleb  said  unto  her,  What  wouldest  thou  ?  ”  She  answered, 
“  Give  me  a  blessing.”  That  she  could  have  in  a  moment,  but 
said  she,  Give  me  more,  “give  me  also  springs  of  water  in 
addition  to  the  south  land.”  “And  he  gave  her  the  upper 
springs,  and  the  nether  springs  ”  (vv.  18,  19).  To  whom  did  she 
pray  ?  To  her  father.  Have  we  not  a  Father  to  whom  we  can 
pray  for  springs  of  water  ?  Yes,  we  have  such  a  Father,  and 
from  him  we  can  have  the  upper  springs  and  the  nether 
springs.  The  river  of  God  is  full  of  water.  It  cannot  be  drained 


246 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xvii.  14. 


off.  It  sets  a-going  all  the  fountains  of  creation,  and  is  more  at 
the  end  than  at  the  beginning — the  very  fulness  of  God ;  a 
contradiction  in  words,  but  a  grand  reality  in  experience.  The 
sun  lights  every  lamp,  and  not  a  beam  the  less  is  his  infinite 
glory.  We  therefore  may  have  a  special  portion,  a  little  all 
our  own;  yea,  a  double  portion  of  the  Spirit  may  be  ours. 
Do  not  let  us  be  content  with  the  general  blessing  of  the  Church. 
That,  indeed,  is  an  infinite  comfort.  But  that  general  blessing 
is  a  pledge  of  particular  donations  on  the  part  of  the  Father 
of  lights.  Here  we  can  pray  without  covetousness ;  here  we 
can  be  ambitious  without  selfishness ;  here  we  can  have  great 
desires,  and  be  enlarged  in  our  generosity  by  their  very  operation 
in  the  heart.  Let  each  say  to  the  Father,  Give  me  a  field ; 
give  me  a  faculty ;  give  me  some  dear,  sweet  consciousness  of 
thy  nearness  and  lovingness — something  that  nobody  else  can 
have  just  as  I  have  it;  whisper  one  word  to  me  that  no  one  in 
all  the  universe  but  myself  can  hear,  and  that  whisper  shall 
be  to  me  an  inspiration,  a  comfort,  a  security,  a  pledge ;  not 
that  others  may  not  enjoy  the  same  in  their  own  way,  but  I 
want  something  mine  own.  To  that  prayer  who  can  measure 
the  reply,  if  spoken  in  faith  and  love  and  noble  unselfishness  ? 

Now  another  voice  is  heard.  Joshua  was  not  going  the  right 
way  about  the  work,  in  the  estimation  of  some  people  : — 

“And  the  children  of  Joseph  spake  unto  Joshua,  saying,  Why  hast  thou 
given  me  but  one  lot  and  one  portion  to  inherit,  seeing  I  am  a  great  people, 
forasmuch  as  the  Lord  hath  blessed  me  hitherto  ?  ”  (xvii.  14). 

These  were  the  Ephraimites,  the  most  arrogant  and  the  most 
cowardly  of  all  the  tribes.  Arrogance  and  cowardice  have  been 
bed-fellows  all  through  time  and  all  the  world  over.  “  The 
children  of  Ephraim  being  armed,  and  carrying  bows,  turned 
back  in  the  day  of  battle.”  We  expected  no  less.  We  were 
sure  from  their  vaunting  boast  at  the  time  of  the  distribution  of 
the  land  that  there  was  no  quality  in  them.  The  bark  of  a 
dog  would  be  mistaken  for  the  roar  of  a  lion  ;  the  falling  of  a 
leaf  would  be  construed  into  the  noise  of  advancing  foes.  Yet 
not  all  the  Ephraimites  were  of  that  quality.  Joshua  himself 
belonged  to  that  tribe.  The  contrast,  therefore,  is  the  more 
beautiful,  that  they,  the  boasting  leaders  of  Ephraim,  should 
come  up  to  Joshua,  the  true  leader,  and  talk  to  him  in  a  tone 


Josh.  xvii.  15.]  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  LAND. 


24  7 


of  arrogance  and  lofty  demand.  They  thought  they  would 
touch  his  pride,  but  his  pride  lay  beyond  their  touch.  He  was 
too  great  to  be  restless,  too  profoundly  religious  to  be  in  a 
tumultuous  state  of  mind,  too  much  in  heaven  to  care,  from  a 
selfish  point  of  view,  for  all  Palestine — a  mere  speck  of  mud 
upon  the  sea.  Yet  they  thought  they  had  good  standing  before 
Joshua.  “  We  are  a  great  people,”  said  the  Ephraimites,  u  and  one 
lot  is  not  enough.”  Joshua  answered  them  with  infinite  wit,  with 
a  fine  touch  of  satire,  as  well  as  with  high  religious  nobleness  : — 

“And  Joshua  answered  them,  If  thou  be  a  great  people,  then  get  thee  up 
to  the  wood  country,  and  cut  down  for  thyself  there  in  the  land  of  the 
Perizzites  and  of  the  giants,  if  mount  Ephraim  be  too  narrow  for  thee  ” 
(xvii.  15). 

The  answer  is  the  answer  of  statesmanship  in  all  times,  and  the 
answer  of  wisdom  to  those  who  clamour  for  great  spaces  and 
for  liberties  worthy  of  their  greatness.  Consider  the  answer 
well :  If  thou  be  a  great  people,  go  out  and  cut  down  the  forests  : 
create  a  space;  prove  your  greatness  by  your  service;  great 
men  cannot  be  kept  back  :  if  thou  be  a  great  people,  go  and 
fight  the  giant ;  don’t  spend  thy  time  in  catching  flies.  The 
Bible  is  not  an  old  book  in  the  sense  of  being  outworn.  It  is 
still  the  best  business  book  in  the  world.  It  is  still  the  book 
that  holds  all  things  within  its  four  corners ;  no  man  can  add 
to  it,  and  none  can  take  away  from  it.  That  is  the  mystery  of 
the  Bible.  We  have  already  seen  that  no  man  can  add  a  single 
pebble  to  the  universe.  With  all  man’s  greatness  and  ambition 
and  fiery  determination,  and  all  his  love  of  conquest,  he  cannot 
add  one  little  pebble  to  the  earth ;  he  labours  with  infinite  toil 
within  a  very  small  circle.  With  the  book  of  God  it  is  the 
same  in  the  matter  of  addition  and  subtraction.  You  cannot 
publish  a  supplement  to  the  Bible.  You  cannot  really  and  vitally 
take  anything  from  it ;  you  may  do  so  feloniously  and  literally, 
but  the  Bible  is  the  complete  Book.  Call  it  a  seed-house,  and 
grow  whole  forests  and  beautiful  gardens  out  of  it ;  but  as  to  its 
vital  substance,  its  eternal  pith  and  music,  you  can  neither  add, 
nor  subtract  anything. 

Joshua,  continuing  the  high  satiric  strain,  said  : — 

u  Thou  art  a  great  people,  and  hast  great  power :  thou  shalt  not  have  one 
lot  only :  but  the  mountain  shall  be  thine ;  for  it  is  a  wood,  and  thou  shalt 


248 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh,  xviii.2  . 


cut  it  down  :  and  the  outgoings  of  it  shall  be  thine  :  for  thou  shalt  drive  out 
the  Canaanites,  though  they  have  iron  chariots,  and  though  they  be  strong” 
(xvii.  17,  18). 

This  is  how  we  should  try  all  supposedly  great  men  in  the 
Church — put  them  down  into  barren  positions,  and  tell  them  to 
make  gardens.  Send  the  very  greatest  professor  to  the  most 
desolate  missionary  station,  and  tell  him  that  it  will  be  at  his 
peril  to  write  one  word  of  discouragement ;  every  post  must 
bring  news  that  gardens  are  growing,  birds  are  singing,  the 
desert  is  rejoicing  and  blossoming  like  the  very  garden  of  God. 
So  should  all  great  people  be  treated.  They  should  not  have 
merely  hereditary  blessings — the  meanest  of  all  wealth,  the 
wealth  that  has  no  soul  in  it,  no  blessing  with  it — a  great  load 
set  upon  a  sliding  scale  that  goes  on  and  on  by  its  own  impetus. 
If  we  think  we  have  great  faculty,  go  out  and  prove  it  by  going 
into  the  mountain,  and  by  battling  with  the  Canaanites.  If  we 
suppose  ourselves  to  have  very  superior  talents,  go  to  the  most 
destitute  parts  of  the  city,  to  the  east  end  of  every  city,  and  make 
it  as  the  west  should  be  in  all  hopefulness  and  in  all  spiritual 
purity  and  dignity. 

We  come  now  to  another  set  of  circumstances.  It  appears 
that  when  all  was  done  up  to  this  point,  a  good  deal  still  remained 
to  be  accomplished.  We  read  of  this  in  chapter  xviii.  2-7  : — 

“  And  there  remained  among  the  children  of  Israel  seven  tribes,  which  had 
not  yet  received  their  inheritance”  (xviii.  2). 

Joshua  said,  Go  and  walk  through  the  land  and  describe  it, 
and  come  again  to  me,  that  I  may  here  cast  lots  for  you  before 
the  Lord  at  Shiloh.  In  other  words,  Go  and  see  what  can  be 
done  with  the  remainder ;  bring  me  a  map  of  the  country ;  state 
to  me  the  possibilities  of  the  situation,  and  Twill  make  a  religious 
question  of  it,  as  I  have  always  done.  That  is  how  we  must  do 
now.  There  are  more  than  seven  tribes  amongst  us  who  have 
nothing.  What  have  we  to  do  ?  We  have  to  go  out  and  look 
at  the  situation,  in  its  length  and  breadth — measure  it,  grasp  it, 
be  master  of  its  details ;  and  come  back  and  settle  destiny 
by  religious  standards  and  considerations.  To  young  men  I 
would  say,  Do  not  stand  there  complaining  to  your  fathers  and 
your  leaders ;  nothing  is  easier  than  to  moan,  and  to  complain, 
and  to  murmur ;  go  out  and  look  around  and  see  what  the 


Josh,  xviii.  2.]  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  LAND. 


249 


reality  of  the  circumstances  is,  and  then  address  yourselves  to  that 
reality  as  you  may  be  religiously  directed.  What  is  the  globe  ? 
Let  me  understand  something  of  the  earth  upon  which  I  live. 
What  is  its  size  ?  Right  through  it,  how  far  ?  Round  about  it, 
what  distance  in  miles  ?  How  many  people  are  there  upon  its 
surface  ?  What  is  the  history  of  its  growth  and  trade  ?  And  as 
we  map  this  globe  out  and  understand  something  of  its  history, 
we  see  that  the  great  thing  to  be  done  is  to  emigrate.  That  is 
what  young  men  of  consciously  great  faculty  and  strength  have 
to  do.  You  are  playing  the  part  of  suppliants  ;  you  are  running 
after  your  fathers  and  mothers,  asking  for  new  garments  when 
you  ought  to  be  away  making  them,  weaving  them,  and  making 
nature  a  bank  yielding  you  what  riches  you  require.  But  the 
fathers  and  the  mothers  are  somewhat  to  blame  herein  :  the 
world  is  very  great ;  and  to  conquer  it  seems  to  break  up  the  family 
circle,  and  to  bring  down  grey. hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave. 
O  foolish,  mistaken  love  !  Nay,  let  us  go  further,  and  say  that 
is  not  love  at  all.  There  is  space  enough,  land  enough,  and  we 
can  so  act  as  to  find  liberty  enough.  We  may  have  to  go  into 
woody  districts ;  and  says  some  dear,  foolishly-mistaken  father, 
“  The  idea  of  my  boy  going  into  a  wood  1  ”  That  is  the  right 
place  for  him  ;  he  will  be  made  a  man  of  there.  The  wood  is 
necessary  to  complete  the  school,  and  the  drawing-room,  and  the 
confectionery  period,  in  which  you  have  done  your  utmost  to 
ruin  your  boy.  “  But  he  is  such  a  fine  boy  !  ”  That  is  the  very 
reason  why  he  should  go  : — Thou  art  a  great  people  ? — then  go 
and  cut  down  trees,  and  lay  them  out  foursquare,  and  roof  in 
the  place  as  well  as  you  can,  and  begin  there.  To  commence 
elsewhere  is  to  begin  to  build  a  temple  from  the  top  of  the 
steeple  or  the  tower.  Or  trade  may  take  the  place  of  emigration. 
How  lies  the  globe  of  trade  ?  What  trades  are  too  thickly 
thronged  ?  Where  is  the  congestion  ?  Where  is  the  difficulty  ? 
Where  is  the  point  at  which  genius  can  operate  in  the  con¬ 
struction  of  new  relations  and  the  creation  of  new  possibilities  ? 
What  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  mind  !  And  what  is  true  of  young 
men  who  are  complaining  that  they  cannot  get  a  living,  is  true  of 
the  Church  of  the  living  God — is  true,  in  other  words,  of  the 
great  field  of  evangelisation.  A  great  Church  staying  at  home, 
eating  its  own  banquet,  drinking  its  own  wine,  and  talking  over 


250 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xix.  49,  50. 


the  number  and  excellence  of  its  own  luxuries — surely  that  is  the 
way  the  end  whereof  is  death.  The  larger  the  congregation, 
the  more  valorous  should  be  the  evangelistic  assault  upon  the 
fortresses  of  darkness,  ignorance,  superstition,  and  heathenism. 
The  hotter  the  centre,  the  further  should  radiate  the  beams  that 
can  touch  with  illumination  and  encourage  with  warmth  those 
who  are  afar  off.  We  must  not  take  our  greatness  as  a  reason 
why  we  should  do  nothing,  but  as  a  reason  why  we  should  do 
more.  Let  those  whose  faculties  are  small  and  whose  oppor¬ 
tunities  are  limited  remain  at  home  and  do  the  housework ;  but 
the  children  of  the  mighty — men  who  are  conscious  of  strength — 
should  be  found,  all  the  world  over,  heroes  to  fight;  protectors 
to  defend  purity,  innocence,  and  weakness ;  and  leaders  to  inspire 
the  faint-hearted. 

And  has  Joshua  nothing  in  all  this — the  great  man  himself,  so 
quiet,  so  gentle  ?  Caleb  asked  for  his  portion  right  boldly,  but 
he  asked — as  a  heroic  man  should  ask — for  difficulties.  At  eighty- 
five  he  wanted  to  prove  that  he  was  as  young  as  he  was  at  forty. 
Joshua  might  have  taken  that  opportunity  of  saying,  Caleb,  I 
was  with  you  in  that  matter  of  the  espial  of  the  land ;  if  you 
want  your  portion  now,  I  may  as  well  have  mine  at  the  same 
time.  Nothing  of  the  kind.  Joshua  waited  until  the  very  last. 
So  we  read  : — 

“  When  they  had  made  an  end  of  dividing  the  land  for  inheritance  by  their 
coasts,  the  children  of  Israel  gave  an  inheritance  to  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun 
among  them  :  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  they  gave  him  the  city 
which  he  asked,  even  Timnath-serah  in  mount  Ephraim :  and  he  built  the 
city,  and  dwelt  therein  ”  (xix.  49,  50). 

The  greatest  came  last.  Joshua  could  afford  to  wait.  Sometimes 
the  end  is  better  than  the  beginning,  even  in  this  matter  of 
distribution.  But  when  he  did  get  his  portion,  it  was  called 
u  Timnath-serah  ” — in  English,  “  an  abundant  portion  ” — after¬ 
wards  called  "  Timnath-heres,”  u  the  portion  of  the  sun.”  Herein 
.  he  was  the  type  of  the  coming  Joshua  :  he  shall  have  all  nations 
for  his  tributaries,  all  kings  for  his  servants ;  his  dominion  shall  be 
as  the  circuit  of  the  sun  :  11  Timnath-heres  ”  shall  be  the  name  of 
his  empire,  for  the  sun  shall  never  set  upon  that  wide  dominion. 

i  _ 

Is  it  not  also  beautiful  that  Joshua  asked  to  have  the  city  Timnath- 


Josh.  xix.  49,  50.]  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  LAND. 


251 


serah  ?  The  city  was  given  at  his  own  request.  What  saith  the 
Psalmist  in  the  second  Psalm  ? — 11  Ask  of  me,  and  I  shall  give 
thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth  for  thy  possession.”  Ask  thou  ?  The  Joshua,  the 
Jesus  of  the  race,  shall  have  Timnath-serah,  Timnath-heres ;  and 
as  the  type  was  satisfied  with  his  portion,  so  shall  the  Antitype 
be  satisfied  when  he  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul. 

A  very  tender  word  is  found  in  regard  to  some  of  the  tribes. 
“Gad,  and  Reuben,  and  half  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  have  received 
their  inheritance  beyond  Jordan.”  Sweet  words  ! — “  beyond 
Jordan.”  By  a  very  legitimate  accommodation  these  words  may 
be  applied  to  many  a  Christian.  Some  Christians  have  but  little 
portion  this  side  of  the  river  ;  their  lot  is  a  small  one  ;  their  riches 
could  all  be  hidden  in  one  hand*  yet  how  bright  they  are ! — as 
radiant  as  a  summer  dawn,  as  songful  as  a  wood  in  spring-time, 
when  all  the  birds  are  swelling  their  feathery  throats  with 
song.  Why  ?  Because  the  refrain  of  their  hymn  is  “  beyond 
Jordan.”  The  crown  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  river ;  the  city 
lies  beyond  the  stream  ;  the  great  inheritance  is  at  the  other  end 
of  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  :  they  are  “  begotten  again 
unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and  that 
fadeth  not  away.”  So  their  citizenship  being  in  heaven,  they 
have  learned  in  whatsoever  state  they  are,  therewith  to  be  content. 
Blessed  are  they  who  are  rich  in  faith  ;  yea,  blessed  with  seven¬ 
fold  blessing  they  who  can  say  that  their  souls  are  already  in 
heaven,  and  the  consciousness  of  the  heavenly  possession  creates 
contempt  for  the  vanities  of  time. 

Looking  at  the  whole  matter  practically,  let  us  not  forget 
that  the  land  was  given  to  be  cultivated.  This  is  not  a  mere 
matter  of  enjoyment.  When  Palestine  was  seized,  it  had  to  be 
brought  under  agricultural  treatment,  and  men  were  to  enjoy  the 
fruit  of  their  labour  even  in  the  Land  of  Promise.  There 
was  fighting  to  be  done,  there  were  trees  to  be  cut  down  ; 
the  centre  of  the  country  was  a  great  forest,  and  the  foresters 
must  go  into  it  and  bring  down  the  timber  and  root  out  the  old 
roots,  and  make  flowers  and  fruits  grow  in  the  old  forests  of 


252 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xix.  49,  50. 


Palestine.  Life  is  given  to  us  to  cultivate.  We  are  not  called 
upon  to  do  merely  the  work— if  so  it  may  be  termed — of  appre¬ 
ciation  and  enjoyment ;  we  are  called  to  battle,  to  cultivation,  to 
toil,  to  service,  to  disappointment,  and  to  some  fruition  of  our 
hope  and  love. 

Nor  must  we  forget  that  variety  did  not  excite  discontent.  The 
lots  were  not  all  equal.  Judah  had  twenty-nine  cities  and  the 
villages  thereof;  Benjamin,  fourteen  cities  with  the  villages; 
Joshua  had  Timnath-serah,  in  Mount  Ephraim.  So  it  is  possible 
for  us  now  to  have  variety  of  lot,  and  yet  a  sweet  content  of  heart. 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  as  a  man  travelling  into  a  far  country, 
who  called  together  his  servants,  and  gave  to  one  five  talents,  to 
another  two,  to  another  one — representing  talent  and  opportunity 
and  capacity.  The  Lord  must  distribute  as  he  pleases.  The 
great  lesson  for  us  to  learn  is,  that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  have 
little,  and  yet  not  to  want  more;  to  be  called  to  a  great  oppor¬ 
tunity,  and  yet  not  to  boast  over  those  whose  limitation  is  so 
obvious.  This  sweet  content,  this  hallowed  peace,  can  only  be 
enjoyed  in  proportion  as  we  abide  in  Christ,  like  living  branches 
in  a  living  vine.  This  miracle  is  not  a  trick  of  the  human  hand ; 
it  is  the  miracle  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


SELECTED  NOTE. 

Eccentric  Boundaries  of  the  Tribes  (Josh,  xv.-xix.). — Thomson,  in  “The 
Land  and  the  Book,’’  writes  :  “  The  reason  why  the  boundaries  of  the 

different  tribes  were  so  eccentric  originally,  and  are  now  so  difficult  to 
follow,  was  that  the  ‘  lots '  were  not  meted  out  according  to  geographical 
lines ;  but  lands  of  certain  cities  lying  more  or  less  contiguous  were 
assigned  to  each  tribe.  These  cities  were  the  capitals  of  small  principalities 
or  districts,  just  as  Tibnin,  and  Hunin,  and  Bint-Jebail  are  now.  The 
territory  of  one  might  extend  far  to  the  east  of  the  city,  that  of  the  next 
to  the  west.  It  is  now  absolutely  impossible  to  draw  lines  around  the 
separate  *  lots  ’  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  Their  general  positions  with 
relation  to  each  other,  however,  can  be  ascertained  with  sufficient  exactness 
for  all  important  purposes  in  the  study  of  Biblical  geography.” 


PRAYER. 


O  thou  who  art  the  refuge  of  men,  let  us  flee  unto  thee,  assured  that  the 
door  of  thy  mercy  will  not  be  closed  against  us.  We  have  sung  for  a  life¬ 
time  of  Jesus  as  the  refuge  of  the  soul.  We  have  found  him  to  be  a  covert 
from  the  storm.  We  would  abide  in  him,  let  come  what  may,  strong  in  his 
strength,  confident  in  the  immutableness  of  his  love.  This  is  our  daily 
thought  and  this  our  nightly  rest :  a  very  song  in  our  mouth  ;  a  perpetual 
joy,  like  a  singing  angel  hovering  over  the  life.  We  turn  and  think  of  Christ, 
and  behold  our  thought  makes  us  glad.  We  muse  about  the  Son  of  God  in 
holy  wonder,  and  as  we  muse  the  fire  burns,  and  by  its  glow  we  know  he  is 
near  who  is  the  light  of  heaven.  We  would  dwell  upon  the  thought  of  his 
life;  we  would  count  his  words  as  men  count  jewels;  we  would  number 
them,  and  set  them  in  order,  and  preserve  them  with  all  the  eagerness  of 
unutterable  love,  accounting  each  one  necessary  to  the  perfectness  of  the 
whole.  Whilst  we  thus  treasure  thy  Word,  and  find  in  it  our  true  wealth, 
thou  wilt  not  forsake  us ;  thou  wilt  make  us  stronger,  younger,  happier,  as 
we  proceed  in  this  faithful  and  delightful  service.  Reveal  thy  word  to  us 
day  by  day — a  new  light,  a  new  beauty,  a  new  possibility ;  may  it  be  unto 
our  eyes  as  the  dawn  of  heaven,  and  unto  our  ears  as  the  music  of  the  skies. 
According  to  our  necessity  may  thy  word  present  itself  to  us — now  a  staff 
to  lean  upon,  now  a  sword  with  which  to  fight,  now  a  light  that  shall  be  as 
a  lamp  unto  our  feet,  and  now  an  unspeakable  comfort,  making  even  sorrow 
itself  welcome,  because  sorrow  brings  the  Saviour  nearer.  Thy  word 
abideth  for  ever ;  thy  word  is  patient  like  thyself,  waiting  for  its  opportunity, 
standing  at  the  door  of  the  attention  and  knocking  and  waiting  until  we  be 
ready  to  hear  what  it  has  to  say.  It  has  waited  for  us  many  a  year.  When 
we  hear  it,  we  know  it  to  be  thy  word,  because  there  is  an  answering  spirit 
in  our  own  hearts  which  says,  This  is  none  other  than  God’s  word — a  very 
speech  from  the  heart  of  the  universe.  We  thank  thee  for  all  thy  mercies. 
Though  thou  hast  set  us  in  a  time  of  depression,  yet  do  we  see  that  the 
stars  are  all  in  their  places.  It  is  indeed  night-time  with  many,  by  reason 
of  difficulty,  poverty,  distress,  and  hardship ;  yet  not  one  star  has  gone  out, 
and  the  heavens  look  brighter  sometimes  than  they  ever  did.  Thou  hast 
not  forsaken  thy  people,  nor  left  in  desolation  those  that  trust  in  thee. 
This  is  their  confidence  and  their  song;  yea,  it  has  become  their  boast  and 
their  sure  refuge  in  time  of  difficulty.  Even  now  thy  mercies  are  more  than 
we  can  number :  even  when  winter  has  set  in  and  all  the  flowers  have 
hidden  themselves,  thy  mercies  are  full  and  thy  compassion  is  near  and 
thy  kindness  is  loving-kindness.  Even  in  the  midnight  of  the  year  we 
can  sing  praises  unto  our  God  and  shake  down  the  prison  of  our  distress. 


254 


THE  PEOPLE' S  BIBLE.  [Josh,  xx.-xxiv. 


Help  us  in  all  things  to  see  thy  hand,  and  to  say,  All  is  well.  Enable  us  to 
prove  our  faith  by  the  nobleness  and  clearness  of  our  testimony.  May  we 
be  enabled  to  sa\r,  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him,  and  though 
the  night  be  dark  and  dreary,  it  is  but  short  at  most,  and  the  morning  is 
already  dawning  on  the  higher  hills.  We  commend  one  another  to  thy 
loving  care ;  thejr  are  well  kept  whom  thou  dost  keep ;  in  their  hearts  shall 
be  no  unrest,  but  one  continual  radiant  Sabbath-day  ;  no  lion  shall  be  there, 
nor  any  ravenous  beast  go  up  thereon,  it  shall  not  be  found  there  ;  all  holy 
thoughts  shall  dwell  there,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away,  like 
birds  of  the  night,  afraid  of  the  sunshine,  terrified  by  the  day.  We  are 
found  again  at  the  Cross.  We  wait  at  the  altar  of  the  atonement  wrought 
by  him  who  is  thy  Son,  our  Saviour.  His  blood  is  our  prayer,  his  sacrifice 
our  plea.  Amen. 


Joshua  xx.-xxiv. 

AFTER  REST. 

0 

THE  twentieth  chapter  deals  with  the  Cities  of  Refuge.  A 
very  beautiful  expression  is  that — u  City  of  Refuge.” 
Very  suggestive,  too.  But  there  is  a  great  black  shadow  in  the 
middle  of  it :  for  why  should  men  want  refuge  ?  The  term  is 
noble  in  itself,  but  what  is  it  in  its  suggestion  ?  Surely  it 
means  that  there  is  a  pursuing  storm.  We  have  heard 
travellers  say  that  by  making  haste  they  will  just  be  in  time  to 
escape  the  impending  tempest ;  so  they  quicken  their  steps,  and 
when  they  gain  the  threshold  of  the  sanctuary  they  were  aiming 
at,  they  breathe  a  sigh  of  relief  and  thankfulness.  The  sanctuary 
is  doubly  dear  to  them.  Home  is  always  sweet,  or  ought  to  be  ; 
but  how  sweeter  than  the  honeycomb  when  it  is  reached  under 
circumstances  which  try  the  spirit,  exasperate  the  sensibilities, 
and  weigh  heavily  on  the  soul  !  In  this  case  there  is  a  pursuing 
storm,  but  not  of  weather — a  social  storm.  The  man  who  is 
running  has  killed  a  man,  and  the  one  who  is  following  him  is 
“  the  avenger  of  blood.”  Who  will  be  first  in  the  city  ?  God 
will  help  the  first  runner,  if  it  be  but  by  one  step  he  will  be  in 
before  the  pursuer  can  lay  hold  of  him.  There  is  a  wondrous 
ministry  of  helpfulness  operating  in  the  world.  We  are  helped 
in  a  thousand  ways,  not  always  in  the  one  way  in  which  we 
want  to  be  helped,  but  in  some  other  way ;  yet  the  help  always 
comes.  Was  the  refuge  then  for  the  murderer?  No  ;  there  was 
no  refuge  for  the  murderer.  But  is  it  not  said  that  the  man  who 
is  fleeing  to  the  city  of  refuge  has  killed  some  person  ?  Yes,  it 


Josh.  xx.  3.] 


AFTER  REST. 


255 


is  so  said ;  but  a  definition  is  given  which  clears  up  all  the  moral 
side  of  the  mystery : — 

“The  slayer  that  killeth  any  person  unawares  and  unwittingly  may  flee 
thither”  (xx.  3). 

It  was  not  murder,  it  was  accident,  an  awful  accident,  and 
therefore  not  to  be  lightly  dismissed ;  still,  not  murder,  and 
therefore  not  to  be  requited  with  blood.  The  suggestion  of  the 
arrangement  is  itself  a  gospel.  Mark  the  discrimination  of  the 
great  Governor  of  the  universe.  There  is  no  confusion  in  his 
statute-book.  There  is  no  want  of  discernment  in  the  eye.  of 
God ;  that  eye  distinguishes  between  the  intentional  and  the 
unintentional,  the  accident  and  that  which  was  of  malice 
prepense.  All  such  distinctions  give  us  confidence  in  the  Book. 
God  is  not  unrighteous.  The  spirit  of  moral  criticism  pervades 
the  whole  Book,  so  that  none  can  escape  by  false  plea  or  by 
special  pleading,  and  none  can  be  unjustly  accused  or  over¬ 
weighted  with  impeachment ;  God  will  hear  the  case,  and  judge 
it  himself.  So  it  will  be  in  the  summing-up  of  things.  It  will 
be  found  at  last  that  many  things  were  done  u  unawares  and 
unwittingly,  ”  and  were  never  meant  to  be  done ;  and  who  shall 
say  what  mercy  will  be  revealed  when  that  fact  is  made  clear  ? 
We  may  even  now  magnify  it  to  the  comfort  of  men.  Life  is  not 
to  be  severely  judged,  but  righteously  examined  and  pronounced 
upon.  Many  a  sin  is  committed  unawares  and  unwittingly ; 
many  a  wrong  word  is  spoken  under  the-  same  qualification ; 
many  a  life  plunges  into  disastrous  relations  without  purposing 
so  to  do.  Some  lives  get  a  wrong  start.  The  young  man  is 
put  where  he  ought  never  to  have  been  placed  ;  his  life  began  in 
a  false  key  and  with  a  false  conception  of  things.  From  that  point 
he  has  gone  staggeringly  onward  :  now  tolerably  steady ;  now  flat 
down  in  the  dust,  as  though  he  had  been  smitten  by  an  invisible, 
but  mighty  hand ;  now  crawling  a  little ;  and  now  strong  enough 
to  run  a  few  paces  ;  but  altogether  the  life  was  wrongly  started. 
Others,  again,  seem  not  to  have  any  keen  moral  discernment : 
they  blunder  in  making  their  distinctions  ;  in  a  moral  sense  they 
are  colour-blind.  God  must  be  judge  in  all  these  matters,  for  he 
conceived  the  notion  of  the  City  of  Refuge ;  he  has  been  trying  to 
save  men,  to  make  the  most  and  best  of  men,  to  give  new  chances  to 


256 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xx.  7-9. 


men.  What  wonder  if  at  last  he  should  set  up  the  Cross,  and 
say,  This  is  all  that  even  God  can  do?  On  the  other  hand, 
whilst  we  magnify  this  thought  for  our  comfort,  we  must  not 
pervert  it  to  our  soul’s  degradation  and  loss.  Let  us  not  make  too 
free  with  the  gentle  utterances  and  gracious  arrangements  of 
the  inspired  volume.  They  were  meant  for  encouragements 
and  the  beginnings  of  hope ;  they  were  not  meant  as  excuses  for 
indolence,  or  malice,  or  selfishness.  Herein  is  the  righteousness 
of  God  revealed.  “  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do 
right  ?  ”  He  will  not  destroy  the  righteous  with  the  wicked  ;  he 
will  rather  make  one  righteous  man  balance  a  thousand  bad  men 
than  that  a  hair  of  a  righteous  man’s  head  should  perish.  So 
then  we  take  heart  again.  All  that  we  have  done  unawares  and 
unwittingly  that  was  wrong  is  provided  for ;  but  if  we  have  done 
wrong,  aware  of  the  error  and  wittingly,  then  “  whoso  sheddeth 
man’s  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed.”  Murder  cannot 
be  balanced  by  tears.  High  treason  against  human  life  cannot  be 
blotted  out  by  sighing.  Some  one  must  die  ;  blood  must  answer 
blood  somewhere.  If  God  shall  provide  a  Lamb,  let  him  do  it, 
and  let  him  be  adored  in  the  doing  of  it.  But  sin  means  blood 
somewhere — in  the  sinner  himself  or  in  God.  Herein  is  love, 
that  while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us.  The  law  is 
never  altered.  Blood  must  pay  for  blood.  That  is  the  eternal 
law  of  the  universe ;  but  by  whom  the  blood  shall  be  shed  must 
remain  for  the  solution  of  God.  We  believe  that  the  precious 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  was  shed  for  the  sins  committed  by  men  ; 
and  it  is  our  joy  to  hear  a  great  voice,  strong  as  thunder,  musical 
as  love,  saying  in  the  midst  of  the  ages,  “  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.” 

We  read  in  chapter  xx.  7-9  : — 

“  And  they  appointed  Kedesh  in  Galilee  in  mount  Naphtali,  and  Shechem 
in  mount  Ephraim,  and  Kirjath-arba,  which  is  Hebron,  in  the  mountain  ot 
Judah.  And  on  the  other  side  Jordan  by  Jericho  eastward,  they  assigned 
Bezer  in  the  wilderness  upon  the  plain  out  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben,  and 
Ramoth  in  Gilead  out  of  the  tribe  of  Gad,  and  Golan  in  Bashan  out  of  the 
tribe  of  Manasseh.  These  were  the  cities  appointed  for  all  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  for  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  among  them,  that  whosoever 
killeth  any  person  at  unawares  might  flee  thither,  and  not  die  by  the  hand 
of  the  avenger  of  blood,  until  he  stood  before  the  congregation.” 

That  is  the  best  fame.  Better  be  Kedesh  and  Shechem  and 


Josh.  xx.  7-9.] 


AFTER  REST 


257 


Kirjath-arba  and  Bezer  and  Ramoth  and  Golan  than  be  cities 
of  infinitely  more  famous  names.  These  are  mother-towns, 
these  are  mother-cities.  We  read  of  cities  infinite  in  domination, 
innumerable  in  population,  marvellous  in  military  resource  and 
prowess,  but  it  is  a  smoking  fame  that  goes  up  in  clouds  to 
be  blown  away  by  the  wind.  This  refuge-reputation  is  the  true 
fame.  There  would  be  no  difficulty  in  learning  these  names. 
When  the  names  of  great  fighting  cities  have  been  forgotten,  the 
names  of  the  refuge-cities  would  be  repeated  as  men  repeat 
rhyme  inspired  with  reason  and  made  noble  by  love.  Such 
fame  we  may  have.  Are  there  not  men  who  are  in  very  deed 
cities  of  refuge  ?  We  can  go  to  them  by  night  or  by  day,  and 
there  is  always  the  genial  welcome,  the  glad,  Sit  down  and  tell 
me  what  it  is ;  sob  out  all  your  sorrow,  and  keep  back  nothing  of 
your  sin ;  let  me  know  it  through  and  through — the  very  worst 
and  blackest  that  can  be  told.  Are  not  these  men  as  Kedesh 
and  Shechem  and  Kirjath-arba  ?  Are  they  not  more  beautiful  to 
us  than  Bezer  and  Ramoth  and  Golan  ?  There  are  other  men 
from  whom  you  must  expect  nothing  in  the  day  of  weakness  and 
distress.  They  are  critical  men.  You  can  only  go  before  them 
with  a  clean  white  folio,  and  even  then  you  will  be  coldly 
received,  for  such  men  have  no  heaven  to  give;  they  are  not 
cities  of  refuge  ;  in  your  poverty  they  will  tell  you  that  you  ought 
to  have  done  very  differently  from  what  you  have  done,  and  they 
will  read  you  a  lecture  full  of  sternness,  and  punctuated  with 
stings  and  reproaches.  Who  would  go  to  them  ?  No  one  who 
knows  them  ;  they  will  never  be  knocked  up  at  midnight ;  they 
will  never  be  quoted  in  the  hour  of  distress ;  they  are  not  cities 
of  refuge ;  they  are  not  sanctuaries  of  hope  and  love.  Let  us, 
however,  dwell  upon  the  thought  that  we  may  be  cities  of  refuge 
to  men  who  need  rest,  defence,  and  comfort.  We  may  be  blessed 
with  the  enduring  fame :  “  When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it 
blessed  me  ...  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame.” 
We  may  share  our  last  loaf  with  poverty  ;  we  may  speak  the 
cheering  word  to  despondency ;  our  very  smile  may  be  as  a  fire 
radiating  hope  and  comfort  in  the  house  made  bare  and  desolate. 
To  this  fame  we  are  called.  It  is  the  fame  of  the  Son  of  God  : 
“Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest.” 


VOL.  v. 


17 


258 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xxi.  45. 


Now  Joshua  proceeds  with  his  valedictory  speech.  Here  and 
there  he  records  a  sentence  which  belongs  to  all  time.  The 
twenty-first  chapter  has  little  or  nothing  to  say  except  to  the 
people  to  whom  it  specially  related  ;  but  in  summing  up  the 
twenty-first  chapter  Joshua  says, — 

“There  failed  not  ought  of  any  good  thing  which  the  Lord  had  spoken 
unto  the  house  of  Israel  ”  (v.  45). 

The  verse  would  end  well  there.  But  that  is  not  a  full-stop. 
After  the  word  11  Israel”  in  that  part  of  the  sentence  there  is  but 
a  semicolon.  Four  words  remain,  which  contain  all  we  want  to 
know  about  God’s  promises  and  God’s  dispensations.  These 
four  words  are  all  of  one  syllable.  They  might  form  a  child’s 
first  lesson  in  reading — u  all  came  to  pass.”  What  a  testimony 
for  the  old  man  to  bear !  What  more  could  be  said  ?  The  note- 
of-hand  had  matured  and  been  redeemed.  The  promised  harvest 
had  grown  into  golden  abundance,  and  had  been  reaped  and 
garnered.  Can  we  bear  this  testimony  to-day,  or  can  we  not  ? 
Christians  ought  to  speak  out  upon  these  matters.  There  is  a 
mischievous  sophism,  working  endless  disaster  in  society,  which 
says  that  religious  experiences  lie  between  God  and  the  soul,  and 
are  not  to  be  talked  about.  There  is  a  very  little  grain  of  truth 
in  that  assertion.  The  greater  truth  is  : — “  Come  and  hear,  all  ye 
that  fear  God,  and  I  will  declare  what  he  hath  done  for  my  soul.” 
This  is  the  evidence  that  cannot  be  answered.  It  does  not  admit 
of  criticism  ;  it  is  personal  experience ;  it  is  personal  testimony. 
But  for  verses  such  as  this  the  miracles  would  be  incredible  and 
the  history  of  the  Bible  would  sound  like  a  romance.  Now  and 
again  a  great  stone  is  put  into  the  building,  which  seems  to 
bind  the  whole  structure  together  in  unity  and  solidity,  and  this 
is  one  such  stone: — u  There  failed  not  ought  of  any  good  thing 
which  the  Lord  had  spoken  unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  all  came  to 
pass.”  Now  after  that  we  can  do  with  matters  local  and  tran¬ 
sient.  We  seem  to  need  some  smaller  stones  after  that  great 
block  of  marble  has  been  set  in  its  place.  Is  not  that  same  block 
put  into  the  temple  of  to-day  ?  What  has  failed  of  all  Christ  has 
spoken  ?  Here  we  are  thrown  back  upon  a  definition  we  have 
given  before,  that  prophecy  is  not  intellectual  genius  exercised 
upon  an  unknown  future,  but  is  simply  a  moral  declaration — 
the  declaration  that  right  means  upward  and  heavenward,  and 


Josh.  xxi.  45.] 


AFTER  REST. 


259 


wrong  means  downward  and  perditionward.  All  men,  therefore, 
may  be  prophets  with  regard  to  any  city  that  now  lives.  Just  as 
the  old  prophets  spoke  of  Babylon  and  Tyre  and  Egypt,  so  men 
may  speak  of  the  capitals  of  the  world  and  the  countries  greatest 
in  history  at  this  moment.  Given  selfishness,  narrowness  of 
policy,  love  of  war,  devotion  to  luxury,  an  obliteration  of  moral 
distinctions,  heedlessness  of  moral  responsibilities ;  and  the  prophet 
gathering  his  mantle  around  him,  and  standing  upon  some  ' 
eminence,  may  declare  that  the  feasting  shall  be  turned  into 
mourning,  lamentation,  and  woe  :  the  satyrs  and  the  owls  shall 
hoot  in  the  palaces  of  greatness,  and  all  the  renown  of  the  bad 
men  shall  be  turned  into  infamy.  The  colouring  will  partake  of 
the  nature  of  the  imagination  which  depicts  it :  the  colouring  is 
not  in  the  prophecy,  but  in  the  utterance  of  it ;  the  prophecy 
itself  is  moral  :  right — heaven ;  wrong — hell.  Now  let  Ezekiel, 
Daniel,  Jeremiah,  Isaiah  fill  in  the  colouring;  the  prophecy  is 
not  touched  in  its  moral  integrity  and  grandeur  by  the  colour 
used  by  the  prophet  or  the  parabolist.  We  need  no  books  upon 
the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  Such  books  often  stand  in  the  way 
of  the  Bible.  They  turn  prophecy  into  a  narrow  letter ;  they 
want  to  insist  upon  coincidences  which  satisfy  the  merely  literal 
mind.  There  is  but  one  prophecy,  with  a  thousand  varieties  of 
expression  and  illustration,  and  it  is — 11  Say  ye  to  the  righteous, 
that  it  shall  be  well  with  him  :  Woe  unto  the  wicked  !  it  shall  be 
ill  with  him.” 

A  noble  testimony  this,  too,  borne  by  the  old  man.  It  is  not 
youth  that  anticipates,  it  is  age  that  reviews.  Old  men  never 
become  infidels.  We  say  sometimes  that  seldom  is  an  old  man 
converted  to  Christianity.  How  far  that  may  be  true  we  cannot 
tell ;  but  did  ever  an  old  pilgrim  who  had  once  seen  heaven 
opened,  turn  round  and  say,  in  his  wrinkled  old  age,  that  he  was 
going  to  the  city  of  Negation,  or  to  the  wilderness  of  Atheism  ? 
Old  men  ought  to  be  heard  upon  these  subjects;  they  have 
lived  a  lifetime ;  they  have  fought  upon  a  thousand  battle-fields  ; 
they  know  all  the  darkness  of  the  night,  all  the  sharpness  of 
winter,  all  the  heat  of  summer,  and  they  have  a  right  to  be 
heard  upon  this  question ;  and  their  testimony  on  the  side  of 
the  Bible  is  united,  distinct,  emphatic,  and  unanswerable. 


260 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xxii.  4,5. 


Another  point  is  found  in  chapter  xxii.  5  : — 

u  But  take  diligent  heed  to  do  the  commandment  and  the  law,  which 
Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord  charged  you,  to  love  the  Lord  your  God,  and 
to  walk  in  all  his  ways,  and  to  keep  his  commandments,  and  to  cleave  unto 
him,  and  to  serve  him  with  all  your  heart  and  with  all  your  soul.” 

The  hurly-burly  is  done.  What  is  to  be  the  new  turn  of  affairs  ? 
After  tumult — music,  study,  and  worship.  Our  ears  have  been 
plagued  with  the  uproar  of  war.  Sometimes  our  faith  has  almost 
reeled  under  the  historical  tumult  through  which  we  have  passed. 
Now  and  again  we  have  come  into  a  sanctuary,  and  there  we  have 
breathed  a  while ;  and  out  of  it  we  have  come  to  join  the  rush 
and  the  roar  of  battle,  and  advance.  Now  the  Lord  has  given 
rest  unto  Israel.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  Now  that  the  battle  is 
fought  and  won,  the  old  man  speaks : — 

“  Return  ye,  and  get  you  unto  your  tents,  and  unto  the  land  of  your 
possession.  .  .  .  But  take  diligent  heed  to  do  the  commandment  and  the 
law  ”  (xxii.  4,  5). 

Thus  is  life  balanced :  great  battle  to-day,  and  great  prayer 
to-morrow  ;  a  period  of  solitude  to-day,  and  a  period  of  excitement 
and  terrific  assault  upon  evil  fortresses  to-morrow.  Thus,  let  us 
say  again  and  again,  is  life  brought  into  equipoise.  Life  is  not 
all  sentiment,  nor  is  it  all  action  ;  life  is  not  all  prayer,  nor  is 
it  all  war.  The  one  must  balance  the  other.  Dark  days  and 
bright  must  contribute  to  one  another,  and  make  the  common  day 
between  them.  Let  us  not  say  that  Providence  has  forsaken  us 
because  we  are  thrown  into  a  day  of  war  and  misunderstanding, 
because  one  is  taken  and  another  left,  and  because  there  is  a  fire 
in  the  earth  and  a  sword  in  society ;  nor  let  us  say  that  we  have 
come  into  special  favour  of  Heaven  because  there  is  nothing  to  do 
in  our  day  but  to  dream  ourselves  off  into  imagined  heavens.  The 
times  are  many-coloured.  Life  is  a  great  variety,  but  the  thing 
that  abides  is  the  presence  of  the  Son  of  God.  Come  who  may, 
go  who  may,  dig  what  graves  we  may,  Jesus  Christ  is  “  the  same 
yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  for  ever.”  Activity  should  be  balanced 
by  knowledge.  He  who  is  not  profoundly  versed  in  the  law  cannot 
guide  the  battle.  Hence,  they  who  guide  the  State  should  be 
good  men.  They  who  are  in  charge  of  the  nations  of  the  earth 
should  be  men  who  take  diligent  heed  to  do  the  commandment 
and  the  law,  and  to  walk  in  all  God's  ways,  and  to  keep  His  com- 


Josh.  xxii.  6.] 


AFTER  REST. 


261 


mandments  and  to  cleave  unto  him,  and  to  serve  him  with  all 
their  heart  and  with  all  their  soul.  Piety  should  be  in  the 
premiership ;  honour  should  be  at  the  head  of  affairs.  He  who 
speaks  the  guiding  word  should  first  have  learned  that  word  in 
communion  with  God. 

It  would  seem  as  if  some  interviews  in  life  could  not  be 
satisfactorily  closed  but  with  the  language  of  benediction.  An 
ordinary  word  would  be  wholly  out  of  place.  There  is  a  fitness 
of  things  in  human  communication  as  in  all  other  affairs  and 
concerns  of  life.  It  is  fitting,  too,  that  the  benediction  should 
be  spoken  by  the  old  man.  Joshua  was  “old  and  stricken  in 
years,”  and  he  concluded  the  audience  fitly  by  blessing  the 
children  of  Israel : — 

“  So  Joshua  blessed  them,  and  sent  them  away;  and  they  went  unto  their 
tents  ”  (xxii.  6). 

Without  that  blessing,  the  interview  might  have  been  perverted 
into  a  controversy ;  but  the  benediction  ennobled  all  that  had 
gone  before.  Is  it  not  often  so,  with  the  last  word  of  even 
ordinary  human  speech  ?  Following  the  discourse,  the  mind 
of  the  hearer  wonders,  interrogates,  doubts :  then  coincides, 
admires,  believes :  or,  it  may  be  thrown  into  a  state  of  conflict, 
weighing  evidence  and  hardly  knowing  which  scale  is  prepon¬ 
derant;  but  as  the  speaker  moves  on  to  other  strains,  and 
delivers  himself  in  nobler  tones,  and  gathers  into  one  sublime 
appeal  all  the  religious  considerations  which  can  affect  the  issue 
of  his  argument,  it  would  seem  as  if  by  a  grand  Amen,  all  the 
difficulties  had  been  dispersed,  and  a  great  reconciliation  and 
sympathy  had  been  established.  Happy  the  interview  that  ends 
in  a  benediction.  All  our  interviews  with  God  may  so  end.  In  the 
benediction  lies  the  very  wealth  and  force  of  the  argument.  Who 
can  live  upon  contention,  or  be  edified  by  wordy  phrase  ?  We 
sigh  for  the  blessing ;  we  are  unanimous  in  the  benediction ;  we 
are  a  church  undivided,  mute  because  so  eloquent,  when  invoking 
the  seal  of  the  divine  love.  But  some  blessings  are  full  of  subtle 
suggestion.  They  mean  what  they  do  not  fully  say.  Probably 
the  blessing  of  Joshua  was  one  of  those  benedictions  fraught  with 
suggestion — perhaps  not  always  to  the  credit  of  the  hearers  and 
receivers.  It  might  mean,  being  broadly  interpreted, — Begin 
again  :  let  the  past  be  buried ;  now  remember,  and  from  this  day 


262 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE .  [Josh.  xxii.  7-9. 


forth  be  your  better  selves ;  claim  your  inheritance  divine ;  be  at 
peace  one  with  another ;  learn  from  all  the  past ;  now  farewell  : 
to  your  tents,  and  be  blessed  of  God.  Have  we  not  all  been  dis¬ 
missed  in  this  way  now  and  again  ?  Has  not  the  prodigal  been 
sent  to  his  chamber  with  a  blessing  which  meant  much  of  fear 
and  much  of  suspicion,  and  yet  was  intended  to  act  as  an 
encouragement  and  an  inspiration,  a  kind  of  divided  blessing, 
a  benediction  with  a  rebuke  in  it,  an  effort  lacking  in  stimulus, 
a  hint  which  made  the  reproach  the  keener  ?  We  should  listen 
to  the  tone  as  well  as  to  the  words  — the  tone  explains  every¬ 
thing  ;  the  words  explain  nothing.  What  poetry  is  not  disabled 
and  uncrowned  by  the  very  printing  of  it?  And  Christianity 
has  fought  the  battle  and  overcome  the  disadvantage  of  words. 
The  Christianity  spoken  by  Christ  is  one  thing,  and  as  spoken 
by  those  who  do  not  understand  it,  another,  wholly  and  pitiably. 

Now  the  children  of  Israel  go  to  their  tents.  They  are  to 
be  at  peace.  Ceasing  war  they  are  to  be  students  of  war. 
We  shall  hear  no  more  of  controversy ;  every  man  having 
received  the  blessing  is  a  good  man,  and  there  is  an  end  of  a 
tumult  which  at  one  time  threatened  never  to  cease.  So  we 
should  imagine,  but  our  imagining  is  wrong : — 

“  Now  to  the  one  half  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  Moses  had  given  possession 
in  Bashan:  but  unto  the  other  half  thereof  gave  Joshua  among  their 
brethren  on  this  side  Jordan  westward.  And  when  Joshua  sent  them  away 
also  unto  their  tents,  then  he  blessed  them.  And  he  spake  unto  them, 
saying,  Return  with  much  riches  unto  your  tents,  and  with  very  much 
cattle,  with  silver,  and  with  gold,  and  with  brass,  and  with  iron,  and  with 
very  much  raiment :  divide  the  spoil  of  your  enemies  with  your  brethren. 
And  the  children  of  Reuben  and  the  children  of  Gad  and  the  half  tribe  of 
I  Manasseh  returned,  and  departed  from  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Shiloh, 
which  is  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  to  go  unto  the  country  of  Gilead,  to  the  land 
of  their  possession,  whereof  they  were  possessed,  according  to  the  word  of 
the  Lord  by  the  hand  of  Moses  ”  (xxii.  7-9). 

But  in  going  they  did  something  which  excited  the  anger  of 
Israel.  They  built  a  great  altar  “  by  Jordan.”  The  altar  is 
described  in  the  tenth  verse  as  “  a  great  altar  to  see  to,”  that 
is  to  say,  it  was  very  high,  a  piece  of  wonderful  masonry,  a  thing 
that  could  not  fail  to  attract  attention ;  and  the  children  of 
Israel  said, — This  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  idolatry  ;  we  are  no 


Josh.  xxii.  13,  14,  26,  27.]  AFTER  REST. 


263 


sooner  blessed  by  Joshua  than  we  are  cursed  by  the  spirit  of 
impiety,  and  misled  and  dishonoured  by  some  seductive  demon. 
See  how  the  altar  rises  heaven-high  !  A  great  and  influential 
deputation  was  despatched  : — 

“And  the  children  of  Israel  sent  unto  the  children  of  Reuben,  and  to  the 
children  of  Gad,  and  to  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  into  the  land  of  Gilead, 
Phinehas  the  son  of  Eleazar  the  priest,  and  with  him  ten  princes,  of  each 
chief  house  a  prince  throughout  all  the  tribes  of  Israel;  and  each  one  was 
an  head  of  the  house  of  their  fathers  among  the  thousands  of  Israel  ” 
(xxii.  13,  14). 

They  went  up  to  war  against  the  two  tribes  and  a  half.  They 
would  have  no  idolatry;  they  would  put  down  superstition  and 
false  worship  by  the  sword  ;  they  were  not  going  to  have  the 
sanctity  of  their  history  trifled  with.  How  wonderfully  consistent 
they  were  !  The  very  people  who  had  been  building  altars  of 
their  own  and  fashioning  a  god  of  their  own  were  now  warmed 
into  right  holy  zeal,  because  the  two  tribes  and  the  half  tribe 
had  built  an  altar  1  What  was  the  issue  of  the  interview  ?  It 
turned  out  to  be  no  altar  at  all.  It  was  meant  as  an  altar  of 
witness  and  not  of  sacrifice.  It  was  not  for  religious  purposes, 
but  for  historical.  They  said  : — 

“  Let  us  now  prepare  to  build  us  an  altar,  not  for  burnt  offering,  nor  for 
sacrifice :  but  that  it  may  be  a  witness  ”  (xxii.  26,  27). 

So  when  the  children  of  the  one,  side  and  the  children  of 
the  other  say,  What  is  the  history  of  our  people  ?  they  may 
point  to  this  great  altar  as  a  mark  of  punctuation  in  all  this 
noble  and  exciting  story.  So  there  was  peace  where  war  was 
threatened.  But  it  is  not  safe  to  build  altars  if  you  do  not  mean 
to  use  them  as  such  ;  the  immediate  and  local  circumstances 
may  be  forgotten,  and  the  altar  may  remain  a  continual  tempta¬ 
tion  to  false  thought  and  vicious  desire,  so  that  that  which 
was  at  the  beginning  perfectly  innocent  and  open  to  a  rational 
and  satisfactory  explanation,  may  in  the  end  be  turned  into  a 
temptation  and  a  curse.  A  great  and  lasting  lesson  arises  here. 
We  are  not  always  present  to  explain  how  this  or  that  was 
begun.  Men  will  come  upon  our  work  without  knowing  its 
history,  and  they  will  turn  it  possibly  to  their  own  meanings, 
and  to  uses  which  would  surprise  and  distress  the  original 
builders.  Why  create  temptations  for  ourselves  ?  Why  adorn 


264 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh,  xxiii.  3, 14. 


the  walls  with  pictures  which  may  suddenly  become  serpents, 
talking  to  us  and  making  great  promises,  which  can  never  be 
redeemed  ?  Why  encourage  practices  which  in  themselves  at 
their  beginning  and  under  certain  local  conditions  are  innocent 
enough,  but  which  may  become  temptations  to  other  persons, 
who  coming  upon  them  without  the  original  explanation,  use 
them  as  mere  instruments  by  which  to  gratify  desire  or  delight 
imagination  ?  We  should  search  into  reasons  and  follow  with 
religious  solicitude  certain  vital  possibilities.  We  have  to  do 
with  the  impression  we  make,  as  well  as  with  the  actual  work 
we  accomplish.  The  two  tribes  and  the  half  tribe  had  their 
own  idea  in  building  the  altar,  and  that  idea  was  perfectly 
defensible;  its  meaning  was  honest  and  good  ;  but  what  im¬ 
pression  did  it  make  upon  observers  ?  Abstain  from  the 
appearance  of  evil.  To  have  a  great  argument  is  not  enough. 
Sometimes  we  are  bound  to  accommodate  our  argument  to  our 
listeners,  and  to  save  our  contention  from  possible  perversions 
and  misuses.  Have  we  not  a  right  to  do  what  we  may  ?  Certainly 
not.  If  we  have  dug  out  a  stone,  may  we  not  build  it  where 
we  please,  and  as  we  please  ?  The  answer  is  a  solemn,  No ; 
you  have  no  such  right.  No  man  liveth  unto  himself;  no  man 
dieth  unto  himself.  The  solemn  question  should  be,  What 
effect  will  this  action  have  upon  the  young,  the  unsuspecting, 
the  inexperienced  ?  Blessed  is  he  with  a  right  royal  strength 
who  can  stoop  down  to  the  weakness  of  inferior  men. 

This  being  settled,  a  very  tender  scene  occurs.  Joshua  gathers 
all  the  tribes  of  Israel  to  Shechem,  calls  for  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  for  their  heads,  and  for  their  judges,  and  for  their 
officers,  and  talks  to  them  historically  and  grandly.  He  called 
the  people  themselves  to  witness  what  God  had  done  for  them  : — 

“  And  ye  have  seen  all  that  the  Lord  your  God  hath  done  unto  all  these 
nations  because  of  you  ”  (xxiii.  3). 

Not  only  so,  but  he  uses  a  very  searching  expression : — 

“  And,  behold,  this  day  I  am  going  the  way  of  all  the  earth  :  and  ye  know 
in  all  your  hearts  and  in  all  your  souls,  that  not  one  thing  hath  failed  of  all 
the  good  things  whidh  the  Lord  your  God  spake  concerning  you ;  all  are 
come  to  pass  unto  you,  and  not  one  thing  hath  failed  thereof”  (xxiii.  14). 

Mark  the  precision  of  the  appeal.  The  old  man  would  not 
speak  in  vague  generalities,  nor  will  he  have  a  vote  as  if  by 


Josh,  xxiii.  14.] 


AFTER  REST. 


265 


majority ;  he  must  have  a  clear  testimony  as  to  the  faithfulness 
of  God.  To  what  does  he  appeal  ?  To  mere  opinion  ?  To 
the  common  judgment  of  the  people  ?  No ;  his  language  is 
more  precise  : — “  Ye  know  in  all  your  hearts  and  in  all  your 
souls.”  These  are  the  witnesses,  and  we  can  admit  no  other 
We  demand  such  testimony.  Whatever  it  is,  let  us  have  it 
from  the  heart  and  from  the  soul.  A  man  can  bear  such 
witness  only  now  and  then.  No  man  has  full  command  over 
his  heart  and  over  his  soul  so  as  to  summon  the  witness  at 
a  moment’s  notice.  A  man  may  have  to  retire  for  awhile  and 
gather  himself  together,  and  prepare  himself  by  daily  medita¬ 
tion,  before  he  is  at  liberty  to  speak  a  single  word.  Joshua 
points  to  history,  says  in  effect — Review  it,  put  it  together, 
understand  its  meaning ;  then  compare  the  history  with  the 
promises  you  started  with  ;  and  let  your  souls  speak  and  not  your 
vain  intellect ;  let  the  heart  make  the  avowal ;  do  not  ask  the 
imagination  to  declaim.  It  is  a  solemn  and  grand  appeal ! 
Would  God  men  would  speak  from  their  hearts  and  from  their 
souls !  We  should  get  rid  of  infinite  lying,  of  ‘every  variety 
of  falsehood,  of  every  misleading  colour  in  the  hue  of  social 
intercourse;  we  should,  too,  have  the  right  testimony  about  the 
Bible  and  divine  Providence  and  the  whole  quantity  termed 
divine  revelation.  We  should  also  be  driven  back  into  realities, 
and  made  to  talk  about  real  things.  Who  ever  keeps  to  the 
vital  line?  Who  is  not  prone  to  run  off  into  side-issues  and 
to  dwell  with  meanness  of  mind  upon  merely  incidental  points 
or  accidental  details  ?  Is  it  not  so  in  human  intercourse  ? 
Friendships  of  a  life  standing  are  broken  up  because  one  of  the 
parties  being  of  mean  mind — incurably  mean  mind — seizes  upon 
an  incidental  point  and  magnifies  it  unto  absurd  proportions. 
Thus  love  is  lost  and  life  is  turned  into  misery.  What  we  have 
to  do  is  to  review  the  whole  day  by  day — the  summer,  the 
winter,  the  seedtime,  and  the  harvest — put  altogether  into  one 
complete  quantity,  and  then  say,  from  heart  and  soul,  whether  it 
be  not  noble,  massive,  strong,  beneficent.  The  judgment  is  not 
to  turn  upon  the  detail  of  this  day,  or  of  that  day,  but  upon 
a  review  of  the  whole  line  of  life.  By  this  rule  of  judgment, 
many  men  will  be  much  better  than  they  seem  to  be  now 
and  then;  by  this  rule  of  judgment,  others  will  prove  to  be 


266 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Josh,  xxiii.  6-8. 


worse  than  at  one  time  they  appeared  to  be,  for  whilst  many 
can  do  incidental  acts  of  kindness,  it  takes  something  like 
completeness  of  conviction  to  pursue  a  pure  and  useful  life  day 
by  day,  year  by  year,  until  youth  is  supplanted  by  age,  and 
the  cradle  is  exchanged  for  the  tomb.  An  incidental  kindness 
1  does  not  make  a  beneficent  life.  An  incidental  mistake  ought 
not  to  destroy  a  lifelong  friendship.  Judgment  must  be  upon 
the  whole ;  and  judgment  must  be  spoken  not  by  heated  lips, 
not  in  a  feverish  excitement,  but  deliberately,  with  the  heart 
and  with  the  soul,  with  the  innermost  life,  and  under  a  sense 
of  the  divine  criticism. 

Now  Joshua  changes  his  tone  : — 

“  Be  ye  therefore  very  courageous  to  keep  and  to  do  all  that  is  written  in 
the  book  of  the  law  of  Moses,  that  ye  turn  not  aside  therefrom  to  the  right 
hand  or  to  the  left;  .  .  .  But  cleave  unto  the  Lord  your  God,  as  ye  have 
done  unto  this  day  ”  (xxiii.  6-8). 

% 

What  is  the  call  of  these  verses  ?  It  is  a  call  to  moral  courage. 
The  people  were  soldiers ;  when  they  saw  that  an  altar  had  been 
reared  to  heaven  which  they  did  not  like,  and  wThich  they 
misunderstood,  instantly  they  sped  from  their  tents  and  challenged 
the  builders  to  battle.  That  is  the  rudest  courage;  there  is 
nothing  in  it.  Many  men  can  fight  who  cannot  suffer;  many  are 
brave  in  activity  who  are  cowards  in  waiting.  Joshua  calls  the 
people  now  to  thought,  study,  quiet  and  consistent  and  continuous 
obedience — namely,  u  Cleave  unto  the  Lord.”  Without  this, 
growth  would  be  impossible.  Men  cannot  grow  in  the  midst  of 
continual  or  unbroken  excitement.  We  grow  when  we  are  at 
rest ;  we  grow  not  a  little  when  we  are  in  the  shade ;  we  advance 
when  the  burden  is  crushing  us,  and  we  are  not  uttering  one 
complaining  word  because  of  its  fatal  weight.  When  the  history 
of  the  land  is  written  as  it  ought  to  be  written,  many  a  battle 
which  now  fills  pages  and  chapters  will  be  dismissed  with  a 
contemptuous  sentence  ;  and  sufferings  at  home,  quiet  endurances, 
Christian  manifestations  of  patience,  will  be  magnified  as  indi¬ 
cative  of  the  real  dauntlessness,  the  heavenly  bravery,  the  lasting 
courage.  Let  every  man  examine  himself  herein.  To  say  “  No  ” 
to  a  tempting  offer  is  to  win  a  battle  :  to  receive  a  blow  from  an 
enemy  and  not  return  it,  is  to  reach  the  point  of  coronation  in 
Christ’s  great  kingdom  ;  to  hear  a  rough  speech  and  make  a 


Josh,  xxiii.  15,  16.] 


AFTER  REST. 


26 7 


gentle  reply  is  to  evince  what  is  meant  by  growing  in  grace.  So 
the  history  rolls  on,  from  battle  to  battle,  from  mistake  to  mistake, 
from  point  to  point,  until  at  last  the  moral  displaces  the  material, 
questions  of  the  soul  put  into  their  right  place  questions  of  rank  ; 
and  moral  courage — simple,  loving,  unquestioning  obedience 
— is  set  at  the  head  of  all  the  virtues ;  and  the  quiet,  meek, 
submissive,  patient  soul  is  crowned  and  throned,  and  stablished 
amid  the  hierarchy  of  heaven.  We  cannot  dazzle  the  world  by 
our  greatness,  but  we  can  please  God  by  our  goodness ;  we 
cannot  harness  the  winds  and  make  them  bear  our  names  far  and 
wide,  but  we  can  so  live,  so  suffer,  so  speak,  as  to  constrain  the 
enemy  to  say, — Verily,  this  man  is  a  prophet ;  verily,  this  man 
has  been  with  Jesus  and  learned  of  him ;  verily,  there  is  in  this 
supposed  weakness  a  wonderful  and  enduring  strength. 

We  cannot  but  be  struck  by  the  equality  of  the  divine  way  as 
it  is  marked  by  the  venerable  leader.  The  fifteenth  verse  is 
very  expressive  upon  this  point : — 

44  Therefore  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  as  all  good  things  are  come  upon 
you,  which  the  Lord  your  God  promised  you  ;  so  shall  the  Lord  bring  upon 
you  all  evil  things,  until  he  have  destroyed  you  from  off  this  good  land  which 
the  Lord  your  God  hath  given  you  ”  (xxiii.  15). 

The  way  of  the  Lord  is  equal.  We  have  already  seen  that  there 
is  no  mere  partisanship  with  God,  or  favouritism  that  is  heedless 
of  the  position  and  needs  of  other  people.  The  point  which 
has  been  established  beyond  all  dispute  is  that  God’s  partiality  is 
for  character — that  is  to  say,  for  truth,  integrity,  and  holiness ; 
where  these  are  found  God’s  benediction  rests ;  and  where  these 
are  not  found  no  blessing  of  Heaven  can  descend  or  abide.  We 
only  hold  what  we  have  from  God  so  long  as  we  hold  God 
himself.  But  had  not  Israel  come  into  possession  of  the 
promised  land  ?  Certainly ;  and  yet  even  the  promised  land 
itself  was  only  to  be  held  by  the  title  of  character.  The  six¬ 
teenth  verse  makes  this  clear : — 

41  When  ye  have  transgressed  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  your  God,  which 
he  commanded  you,  and  have  gone  and  served  other  gods,  and  bowed  your¬ 
selves  to  them ;  then  shall  the  anger  of  the  Lord  be  kindled  against  you,  and 
ye  shall  perish  quickly  from  off  the  good  land  which  he  hath  given  unto 
you  ”  (xxiii.  16). 

We  cannot  read  such  words  without  feeling  that  God  is  righteous 


268 


THE  PEOPLE' S  BIBLE.  [Josh.  xxiv.  14, 15. 


and  just  in  all  his  ways.  We  are  not  entitled  to  reason  that 
because  we  are  once  in  possession  we  are  always  in  possession. 
We  stand  or  fall  by  character.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  a 
kingdom  of  truth  and  goodness,  and  not  of  mere  words  and 
ceremonies,  pretensions  or  technical  rights.  Even  heaven  itself 
cannot  be  held  by  sinful  men.  Were  it  possible  for  sin  to  enter 
into  the  celestial  land,  those  who  committed  that  sin  would  be  cast 
out  of  heavenly  places  into  deep  and  outer  darkness,  notwith¬ 
standing  all  that  had  gone  before.  What  a  sublime  security  is 
this  for  the  peace  and  beauty  of  the  universe  !  Might  shall  be 
without  power,  and  royalty  without  a  crown,  and  high  descent 
without  any  value,  except  in  the  proportion  in  which  character 
is  maintained  in  unsullied  purity.  Only  goodness  is  to  be 
guaranteed  in  its  possession. 

Joshua  having  gathered  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  to  Shechem, 
called  for  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  for  their  heads,  and  for  their 
judges,  and  for  their  officers,  and  delivered  unto  them  his  final 
speech.  Again  we  are  thrown  upon  the  grand  truth  that  men 
must  bring  all  their  history  into  one  view  at  certain  periods, 
that  thereby  they  may  renew  their  covenant  and  revive  their 
best  hope.  The  work  of  the  Lord  is  not  of  yesterday;  it  goes 
back  through  all  the  generations ;  and  he  is  the  wise  scribe, 
well  instructed  in  holy  things,  who  brings  into  one  view  all  the 
course  of  the  divine  education  of  the  world.  This  is  what 
Joshua  did  in  brief  in  the  twenty-fourth  chapter.  Having  given 
the  historical  outline,  the  old  man  began  to  exhort  the  people, 
saying  : — 

“  Now,  therefore,  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  him  in  sincerity  and  in  truth  ” 
(xxiv.  14). 

Exhortation  comes  well  after  history.  It  is  like  flowers  growing 
upon  the  top  of  the  rock.  In  order  to  encourage  the  children  of 
Israel  to  be  faithful  in  their  religious  relations  and  responsibilities, 
Joshua  solemnly  announces  his  own  determination  : — 

“ — but  as  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord  ”  (xxiv.  15). 

This  is  the  true  spirit  of  leadership.  The  world  will  pay  little 
heed  to  our  exhortation  if  we  do  not  follow  it  up  by  personal 
practice.  Many  can  understand  our  religion  who  could  never 
understand  our  theology.  This  is  the  secret,  too,  of  all  wide  and 


Josh.  xxiv.  1 6.] 


AFTER  REST. 


269 


lasting  evangelisation.  The  evangelist  himself  must  be  abso¬ 
lutely  devoted  to  Christ’s  Cross  and  to  Christ’s  truth.  At  the 
centre  there  must  be  intense  heat  if  there  is  to  be  any  radiation 
of  warmth  around  the  circumference.  We  cannot  hear  such 
noble  resolutions  pronounced  without  ourselves  being  either 
shamed  into  silence  or  encouraged  into  harmonious  and  equal 
action.  It  is  the  earnest  man  who  makes  his  impression  upon 
society.  If  preachers  are  doubting ;  if  Christians  are  wavering ; 
if  suppliants  are  halting  in  their  pra}^ers  and  endeavouring  to 
balance  their  sentences  by  remote  considerations,  or  are  troubled 
by  unexpressed  fears,  the  Church  can  never  make  any  deep 
and  lasting  impression  upon  society.  Resoluteness  wins.  Unani¬ 
mity  within  the  man  himself  is  the  secret  of  growth  in  grace. 
If  imagination  is  going  one  way  and  judgment  another ;  if  the 
understanding  and  the  will  are  in  perpetual  feud  ;  if  conscience 
is  disobeyed  and  appetite  is  gratified,  the  man  is  divided  against 
himself,  and  there  can  be  no  stability  or  duration  in  his  character. 
Joshua,  in  making  this  bold  and  noble  resolution,  has  rebuked 
the  cowardice  and  the  timidity  of  all  inferior  men,  and  has  shown 
them  how  they  ought  to  deport  themselves  in  the  presence  of 
wavering  and  hesitation.  We  can  kneel  down  the  more  grace¬ 
fully  and  hopefully  now  that  our  venerable  leader  has  declared 
himself  so  emphatically  and  completely  upon  the  side  of  God. 
The  people,  indeed,  answered  Joshua  with  a  good  deal  of 
enthusiasm.  They  said  : — 

“  God  forbid  that  we  should  forsake  the  Lord,  to  serve  other  gods  ’ 
(xxiv.  16). 

Then  they  review  and  repeat  the  solemn  history  and  say  that 
all  Joshua  has  said  is  true  in  fact.  Then  Joshua  says  unto  the 
people — “What  you  have  now  said  amounts  to  little  more  than 
mere  words ;  you  forget  that  God  is  a  holy  God  and  a  jealous 
God,  and  you  are  speaking  from  impulse  rather  than  from  settled 
conviction.”  Then  the  people  reply  that  Joshua  himself  is  mis¬ 
taken,  and  they  have  really  made  up  their  minds  once  for  all  to 
serve  the  Lord.  So  be  it,  then,  said  Joshua — “  Ye  are  witnesses 
against  yourselves  that  ye  have  chosen  you  the  Lord,  to  serve 
him.”  The  people  answered — That  is  even  so ;  “  We  are 
witnesses.”  Then  said  Joshua,  There  is  one  final  word  to  be 
spoken.  If  you  have  made  up  your  minds  to  this  course,  you 


270 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE .  [Josh.  xxiv.  27, 31, 33. 


must  put  away  the  strange  gods  which  are  among  you ;  no  taint 
of  idolatry  must  remain  behind  ;  not  the  very  smallest  image 
must  be  taken  with  you  one  day  longer  or  one  inch  further ;  the 
expurgation  must  be  immediate,  complete,  and  final.  The  people 
answered  unanimously :  “  The  Lord  our  God  will  we  serve, 

and  his  voice  will  we  obey.”  It  was  indeed  a  solemn  day  ;  a  day 
of  covenant,  a  day  of  memorial,  a  day  which  condensed  into  its 
throbbing  hours  generations  of  history  and  strong  and  ardent 
pulsings  of  devotion  and  prophetic  service.  A  covenant  was 
made,  and  a  statute  and  an  ordinance  were  set  in  Shechem.  To 
make,  if  possible,  the  matter  inviolably  permanent,  “  Joshua 
wrote  these  words  in  the  book  of  the  law  of  God,  and  took  a 
great  stone,  and  set  it  up  there  under  an  oak,  that  was  by  the 
sanctuary  of  the  Lord  ”  (xxiv.  26). 

Then  a  very  solemn  scene  occurs  : 

“And  Joshua  said  unto  all  the  people,  Behold,  this  stone  shall  be  a 
witness  unto  us ;  for  it  hath  heard  all  the  words  of  the  Lord  which  he  spake 
unto  us :  it  shall  be  therefore  a  witness  unto  you,  lest  ye  deny  your 
God”  (xxiv.  27). 

Then  the  assembly  broke  up.  It  broke  up  never  to  meet  again 
under  the  same  wise  and  valiant  leadership.  All  pathetic  occa¬ 
sions  should  be  treasured  in  the  memory ;  the  last  interview, 
the  last  sermon,  the  last  prayer,  the  last  fond  lingering  look ;  all 
these  things  may  be  frivolously  treated  as  sentimental,  but  he 
who  treats  them  so  is  a  fool  in  his  heart  :  whatever  can  subdue 
the  spirit,  chasten  the  sensibilities,  and  enlarge  the  charity  of 
the  soul  should  be  encouraged  as  a  ministry  from  God.  Now 
Joshua  dies,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  ten.  He  was  buried 
in  the  border  of  his  inheritance  in  Timnath-serah,  which  is  in 
Mount  Ephraim,  on  the  north  side  of  the  hill  of  Gaash. 

“And  Israel  served  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  Joshua,  and  all  the  days  of  the 
elders  that  overlived  Joshua,  and  which  had  known  all  the  works  of  the 
Lord,  that  he  had  done  for  Israel”  (xxiv.  31). 

Now  the  history  is  done.  The  bones  of  Joseph,  which  the 
children  of  Israel  brought  up  out  of  Egypt,  were  buried  in 
Shechem,  in  a  parcel  of  ground  which  Jacob  bought  of  the  sons 
of  Hamor  the  father  of  Shechem.  Then  men  died  quickly  : 

“  And  Eleazar  the  son  of  Aaron  died ;  and  they  buried  him  in  a  hill  that 
pertained  to  Phinehas  his  son,  which  was  given  him  in  mount  Ephraim  ” 
(xxiv.  33). 


Josh.xxiv.33-] 


AFTER  REST. 


271 


Death,  death,  death  !  The  great  man  dies,  and  yet  the  work 
goes  on.  The  minister  ceases,  but  the  ministry  proceeds.  The 
individual  sermon  closes,  but  the  everlasting  gospel  never  ceases 
its  sweet  and  redeeming  proclamations.  Book  after  book  is 
finished,  but  literature  itself  is  hardly  begun.  Amidst  all  muta¬ 
tion  there  remains  one  everlasting  quantity  :  u  Thy  throne,  O 
God,  is  for  ever  and  ever.”  All  the  new  generations  acknowledge 
it.  They  come  up  in  great  pride  and  strength,  as  if  they  them¬ 
selves  were  to  outlive  God,  and  behold  in  a  few  years  their  pith 
is  exhausted,  their  hope  dies,  and  they  know  themselves  to  be 
no  better  than  their  fathers.  When  we  are  touched  by  the  death 
of  those  whom  we  have  known  best,  and  wonder  how  light  can 
ever  shine  again  upon  the  circle  in  which  we  move,  we  should 
give  the  mind  free  scope  to  range  over  all  the  noble  and  marvel¬ 
lous  history  of  the  world,  so  shall  we  see  that  how  great  soever 
have  been  the  men  who  have  led  us,  the  world  could  do  without 
them ;  God  knew  how  to  supply  their  places,  and  amidst  all 
change  and  fear  and  dismay  the  purpose  of  Heaven  went  steadily 
forward  in  all  the  grandeur  of  its  strength  and  all  the  tenderness 
of  its  beneficence. 


In  coming  thus  far  in  our  Bible  studies  let  us  pause  a  moment 
to  consider  how  many  illustrious  men  with  whom  we  have 
companied  have  passed  away.  Truly  the  dead  are  quickly  be¬ 
coming  the  majority.  Adam  died,  but,  though  his  years  were 
many,  how  few  are  the  deeds  which  are  recorded  of  him  !  He 
stands  in  history  as  the  very  Gate  of  Death.  11  By  one  man  came 
death.”  We  feel  as  if  we  might  say — “  But  for  thee,  O  Adam, 
all  men  would  now  have  been  alive;  no  grave  would  ever  have 
been  dug ;  no  farewell  would  ever  have  been  breathed.” — That 
is  an  overwhelming  reflection.  Consider  the  possibility  of  Adam 
himself  now  entertaining  it,  or  following  it  out  in  all  its  infinite 
melancholy !  Think  of  him  saying — u  By  my  sin  I  ruined  God’s 
fair  earth;  to  me  ascribe  all  iniquity,  all  shame,  all  heart-break; 
by  my  presumption  and  disobedience  I  did  it  all :  I  slew  the 
Son  of  God ;  but  for  me  there  would  have  been  no  Bethlehem, 
no  Gethsemane,  no  Calvary,  no  Cross  :  lay  the  blame  at  the 
right  door, — O  ages  of  time,  ye  burdened  and  groaning  centuries, 


272 


TIIE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


curse  my  name  in  all  your  woe." — On  such  thoughts  we  may  not 
dwell,  for  the  mind  reels  in  moral  amazement,  and  the  heart 
cannot  quench  the  passion  of  scepticism.  Enough  is  known  to 
make  us  solemn.  Count  the  graves  until  arithmetic  gives  up 
the  reckoning  in  despair.  Abel,  Enoch,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob, 
Moses,  all  gone  !  Just  as  we  had  come  to  know  them  in  the 
breaking  of  bread  they  vanished  out  of  our  sight.  It  was  as  if 
rocks  had  been  uprooted,  or  as  if  planets  had  ceased  to  shine  : 
nay  more,  for  we  have  not  only  lost  strength  and  majesty,  we 
have  lost  guidance,  stimulus,  friendship,  and  the  subtle  ministry 
of  eloquent  example.  Can  history  repeat  such  men  ?  Does  our 
story  now  lie  all  down-hill,  from  steep  to  steep  until  we  reach 
the  valley  of  commonplace  or  the  plain  of  mediocrity?  Jesus 
Christ  has  taught  us  how  to  regard  great  men,  saying  “  Among 
them  that  are  born  of  women  there  hath  not  risen  a  greater  than 
John  the  Baptist :  notwithstanding  he  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  greater  than  he.”  Here  we  have  at  once  recognition 
of  greatness  and  hope  of  greater  history.  What  if  we  may  know 
more  than  Adam,  see  farther  than  Enoch,  embark  in  greater 
adventures  than  Abram,  offer  greater  sacrifices  than  the  priests, 
and  see  a  deeper  law  than  was  ever  revealed  to  Moses  ?  In 
Christ  are  hidden  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom,  yea  riches  un¬ 
searchable,  promises  exceeding  great  and  precious.  My  soul, 
bestir  thyself,  go  out  in  the  early  morning,  remain  in  the  field 
until  the  stars  come  out,  for  every  hour  brings  its  own  spoil, 
every  moment  its  own  vision.  O  my  Lord,  Father  in  heaven, 
Blessed  One,  made  known  to  me  in  the  Cross  of  salvation,  inspire 
me,  lift  me  up,  and  make  me  gladly  accept  thy  yoke  and  do  all 
tby  bidding ;  give  me  the  aspiration  that  is  untainted  by  vanity, 
and  the  consecration  that  is  undefiled  by  selfishness,  then  shall 
l  be  willing  to  be  baptised  for  the  dead,  and  to  stand  steadfastly 
where  princes  and  veterans  have  fallen  by  the  hand  of  Time. 


* 


I 


“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE,’’ 

FOR  ALL  GLEANERS. 


.  .  the  Lord  your  God,  he  is  God 
in  heaven  above,  and  in  earth  be¬ 
neath.” — Joshua  ii.  n. 

Everything  depends  upon  a  right  con¬ 
ception  of  the  personality  and  character 
of  God. — The  Hebrew  conception  was 
marked  by  great  exaltation  and  com¬ 
prehensiveness. — Again  and  again  we 
have  observed  that  a  little  conception 
of  God  means  a  little  religion,  and  a 
little  religion  means  a  little  morality. — 
We  must  in  all  our  thinking  strive  after 
the  largest  conceptions,  not  simply  for 
their  own  value  as  thoughts,  but  for 
their  moral  influence  upon  the  whole 
circuit  of  thinking  and  action. — Joshua’s 
description  of  God  is  absolutely  inclu¬ 
sive:  (i)  he  is  “  the  Lord  your  God;” 
as  if  he  were  associated  with  the 
Israelites  only,  and  with  every  Israelite 
in  the  whole  community  :  thus  he  is 
made  a  personal,  or  social,  or  tribal 
God ;  but  such  a  God  can  never  be 
more  than  a  mere  idol ;  to  save  God 
from  the  rank  of  idols  we  must  have  a 
true  conception  of  his  greatness  as  well 
as  of  his  moral  qualities  :  (2)  Then 
“  he  is  God  in  heaven  above  ;  ”  there 
the  thought  receives  wonderful  and 
sublime  enlargement :  what  “  heaven 
above  ”  is  must  be  left  to  the  imagina- 
tion,  and  imagination  itself  reels  in  any 
attempt  to  comprehend  the  vastness 
and  glory  of  the  expression :  though 
VOL.  V. 


the  mind  is  thus  bewildered,  it  is  yet 
exalted  and  ennobled  by  the  very 
endeavour  to  comprehend  the  incom¬ 
prehensible  :  (3)  Then  he  is  God  “  in 
earth  beneath ;  ”  thus  all  the  dimensions 
are  included ;  a  beautiful  method  of 
education  is  this,  for  it  enables  the  mind 
to  begin  at  certain  clear  and  ascertain¬ 
able  points  and  to  move  onward  and 
upward  to  greater  distances  and  to 
sublimer  effects. — The  Christian  con¬ 
ception  of  God  has  never  enlarged; 
the  thought  of  the  Hebrew  theology. 
Christianity  has  introduced  tenderness, 
into  it  by  describing  God  by  more 
familiar  and  endearing  names,  yet  not. 
at  the  expense  of  the  sublimity,  but 
rather  in  illustration  of  it,  showing  that' 
true  sublimity  is  not  far  from  true  con¬ 
descension.— The  Hebrew  conception, 
of  God  should  have  been  followed  by  a, 
grand  conception  of  personal  character. 
— To  have  a  great  God  in  the  intellect, 
and  no  God  in  the  life,  is  the  most' 
criminal  atheism. — When  a  man  with, 
this  conception  of  God  does  that  which 
is  unworthy  of  the  conception,  he  not 
only  drags  himself  downwards,  but  he 
drags  also  the  conception  of  God  along 
with  him. — It  is  possible  to  have  an, 
intellectual  conception  without  a  moral 
realisation.  This  is  the  most  painful 
irony  that  can  occur  in  life. — When  we 
speak  of  a  great  conception  of  God,  it  is 
not  intended  that  the  mind  alone  or  the 

18 


TILE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


274 


pure  reason  should  be  interested  in  that 
conception,  but  that  it  should  fill  the 
whole  being,  enlightening  the  mind, 
subduing  the  heart,  chastening  the  dis¬ 
position,  and  regulating  the  will.  With 
such  a  conception  immorality  is  simply 
impossible ;  because  it  is  impossible 
that  such  light  should  be  quenched  by 
the  darkness  round  about  it. — The  vital 
point  to  be  ever  remembered  in  these 
studies  is  that  a  great  intellectual  theo- 
logy  does  not  necessitate  a  grand 
moral  purification.  Theology  must  be 
made  more  than  an  intellectual  science  ; 
it  must  supply  the  motive  and  the 
reward  of  sanctified  impulse  and  action. 


“  Come  hither ,  and  hear  the  words  of 
the  Lord  your  God." — Joshua 
iii.  9. 

In  the  Old  Testament,  the  question 
of  place  has  never  been  regarded  as 
inferior. — To  us  locality  is  a  matter  of 
little  or  no  importance,  but  to  the 
Hebrew  locality  was  an  element  of 
true  worship. — The  Israelites  were  in 
this  instance  invited  to  a  particular 
place,  in  order  that  they  might  hear 
the  words  of  the  Lord. — Christianity 
so  far  enlarges  this  idea  as  to  find  in 
the  sanctuary  the  place  in  which  God 
especially  reveals  himself  to  earnest  and 
expectant  worshippers. — Jesus  Christ 
went  into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath-days.  Jesus  Christ  also  withdrew 
from  the  crowd  in  order  that  he  might 
alone  commune  with  God  in  the  silence 
of  night  and  the  solitude  of  the  moun¬ 
tain. — There  is  no  doubt  an  utter 
destruction  of  the  idolatry  of  place  in 
Christianity ;  but  the  destruction  of 
idolatry  is  not  equal  to  the  deconsecra¬ 
tion  of  given  places  of  worship  :  the 
altar  is  still  holy  ;  the  church  is  still 
recognised  as  praying-ground  in  an 
especial  sense,  namely,  the  sense  of 
bringing  together  men  of  common 
sympathies  and  common  aspirations, 


and  giving  them  to  feel  the  security 
of  nearness  and  multitude. — Whilst  it 
is  possible  to  pray  in  the  great  throng, 
and  even  to  commune  upon  deep  sub¬ 
jects  amid  the  noise  of  the  world,  yet 
Silence  will  ever  be  regarded  as  con¬ 
stituting  a  kind  of  sanctuary  in  which 
the  soul  more  especially  delights. 
Every  Isaac  will  feel  a  pleasure  in 
going  into  the  fields  at  eventide  to 
meditate. — There  is  a  kind  of  thought 
which  may  be  said  to  have  its  residence 
in  the  mountains,  and  a  kind  of  praise 
which  may  be  said  to  reach  its  noblest 
expression  amid  the  waves  of  the  great 
deep. — The  mere  act  of  “coming”  is 
itself  a  religious  exercise ;  it  means 
withdrawment  from  usual  avocation  or 
entertainment,  and  specialty  of  thought 
and  service  :  it  breaks  up  the  idea  of 
commingling  and  intermixture,  which 
too  often  tends  towards  earthliness 
rather  than  towards  heavenliness,  and 
constitutes  in  itself  a  severe  trial  of 
intellectual  attention  and  moral  ex¬ 
pectation.  Such  coming  means  willing¬ 
ness  to  set  apart  time  for  Christian 
purposes,  and  to  create  opportunities 
for  spiritual  education. — Coming  is 
thus,  in  some  degree,  a  sacrifice, 
a  token  of  the  heart’s  willingness 
to  obey  God  rather  than  yield  to 
the  clamour  of  earthly  appeals. — All 
men  are  the  better  for  coming  to¬ 
gether  for  religious  service. — We  get 
something  in  fellowship  which  we  can 
never  get  in  solitude.  Men  belong  to 
one  another  in  this  sense,  and  are  not 
complete  in  the  absence  of  one  another. 
— Even  where  physical  association  is 
impossible,  the  very  act  of  yearning 
after  the  absent,  and  compelling  them 
to  be  spiritually  present,  is  in  itself  an 
expression  of  the  noblest  religious  feel¬ 
ing. — Atmosphere  will  always  have  its 
effect  upon  moral  education. — Here  the 
great  subject  of  environment  shows  its 
importance. — Whilst  there  may  be 
some  minds  so  strong  and  independent 


“ HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE." 


2?5 


as  to  create  their  own  atmosphere,  yet 
looking  at  men  in  the  generality,  they 
require  the  help  of  locality  and  all 
the  subtile  suggestion  of  association  and 
habitude  in  order  to  excite  religious 
impulse  and  expectation  to  the  highest 
point. — There  is  great  plausibility  in 
the  sophism  that  men  can  hear  the 
words  of  the  Lord  anywhere. — Jesus 
Christ  did  not  mean  to  teach  that 
doctrine  when  he  told  the  woman  at 
the  well,  “  Neither  in  this  place,  nor 
at  Jerusalem,  shall  men  worship  the 
Father;”  he  merely  meant  to  destroy 
the  idolatry  of  place,  not  its  consecra¬ 
tion  ;  his  idea  was  one  of  inclusiveness, 
not  of  exclusiveness  ;  and  his  purpose 
was  to  show  that  men  could  every¬ 
where  pray,  and  that,  when  compelled 
to  abstain  from  consecrated  places,  that 
compulsion  would  hot  interfere  with 
the  integrity  or  prevalence  of  prayer. — 
Men  can  live  everywhere,  but  they  can 
live  best  at  home.  Men  can  express 
their  thoughts  in  any  language,  but 
there  will  always  be  about  the  mother- 
tongue  a  tenderness  which  cannot  be 
communicated  by  any  other.  Men  can 
see  in  other  men  brothers,  but  they 
can  see  in  family  likenesses  and  feel 
in  family  sympathies  what  cannot  be 
found  elsewhere. — It  is  so  with  religious 
life  in  relation  to  the  Church. — The  fact 
Jhat  some  men  are  superstitious  upon 
these  points  must  not  destroy  rational 
veneration. — So  long  as  the  Church 
preserves  the  peculiarity  of  its  function, 
and  strenuously  endeavours  to  meet  the 
abiding  demands  of  human  instinct  and 
reason,  it  can  never  lose  its  hold  upon 
the  confidence  of  the  world. 


“  God  dried  up  the  waters  of  Jordan 
from  before  you,  until  ye  were  passed 
over,  as  the  Lord  your  God  did  to 
the  Red  seal' — Joshua  iv.  23. 

This  presents  God  as  doing  the  little 
and  doing  the  great  :  in  the  one  case 


he  dried  up  a  river  ;  in  the  other  case 
he  dried  up  a  sea. — The  idea  to  be 
kept  steadily  before  the  mind  is,  that  it 
is  the  same  God  that  worketh  all  in  all. 

■ — Omnipotence  is  as  much  required  in 
the  drying  up  of  the  Jordan  as  in  the 
dividing  of  the  Red  Sea ;  and  the 
Omnipotence  that  divided  the  Red  Sea 
condescended  to  dry  up  the  river. — 
Every  action  on  the  part  of  God  must 
of  necessity  be  a  condescension. — When 
God  made  the  universe  he  humbled 
himself. — When  God  made  man  he 
subjected  the  Deity  to  degradation. — 
This  must  not  be  looked  upon  in  the 
light  of  experiment,  but  in  the  light  of 
necessity.  Terms  which  seem  to  indi¬ 
cate  the  contrary  are  merely  terms  of 
accommodation,  and  not  terms  which 
express  the  essence  of  things. — We  are 
to  reason  from  the  greater  to  the  less  ; 
thus,  if  God  dried  up  the  Red  Sea,  he 
will  also  dry  up  the  Jordan  ;  if  God 
enabled  us  to  kill  a  lion,  he  will  enable 
us  to  slay  a  man  ;  if  God  enabled  us  to 
climb  a  mountain,  he  will  not  forsake 
us  when  we  have  to  pass  over  a  molehill. 
— The  text  is  an  appeal  to  memory  as 
well  as  an  appeal  to  confidence. — That 
we  may  live  well  in  the  future  we 
should  live  steadfastly  in  the  past. — The 
witness  of  God’s  personality  and  presence 
in  life  must  be  found  in  a  man’s  own 
experience  ;  he  can  only  assent  to  them 
with  the  intellect,  but  he  can  claim 
them  as  verities,  and  affirm  them  as  the 
truest  facts  of  life  only  in  proportion  to 
the  richness  of  his  personal  experience 
in  divine  things.  Thus  growing  life 
should  be  growing  religiousness ;  old 
age  should  be  itself  an  argument ; 
memory  should  be  a  library  of  exposition 
and  defence. — What  is  forgotten  so  soon 
as  grace  or  favour  even  on  the  part  of 
man  to  man  ?  It  is  even  so  w7ith  God. — 
We  forget  that  our  whole  life  has  been 
a  miracle.  We  forget  this  in  proportion 
as  we  draw  a  line  beyond  which  our 
recollection  is  not  permitted  to  go — 


2j6 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


Recollection  must  be  helped  by  associa¬ 
tion  or  analogy. — Thus  we  can  go  back 
to  our  own  infancy  by  carefully  regard¬ 
ing  the  infancy  of  others,  marking  its 
frailty  and  its  continual  exposure  to 
fatal  danger. — Life  regarded  thus  from 
the  beginning  to  its  end  becomes  itself 
a  piece  of  work  which  no  human  hands 
could  have  executed,  a  very  miracle  of 
mystery  and  beauty. — The  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  saints  in  particular  were  accus¬ 
tomed  to  reason  from  the  past  to  the 
future.  David  did  so  in  relation  to 
Goliath.  That  is  but  a  typical  instance. 
Job  did  so  when  he  contended  that,  as 
God  had  been  with  him  in  six  troubles, 
he  would  not  forsake  him  in  seven  ;  or 
when  God  himself  affirmed  this  to  be 
the  line  of  his  treatment  of  mankind. — 
Our  own  hymn-writers  have  celebrated 
this  truth  in  many  a  soothing  and 
encouraging  line, — “  His  love  in  time 
past  forbids  me  to  think,”  etc. 


“  Up,  sanctify  the  people ,  and  say. 
Sanctify  yourselves  against  to 
morrow." — Joshua  vii.  13. 

In  this  sense  sanctification  was  equal 
to  preparation. — There  should  be 
solemn  days  of  scrutiny  in  every  man’s 
life. — We  can  complete  the  process  of 
self-scrutiny  even  where  social  scrutiny 
is  impossible. — The  man  who  judges 
himself  most  severely  has  least  to  fear 
from  the  judgments  of  others  :  he  can 
bear  their  criticism  with  composure 
when  he  knows  it  to  be  just ;  he  can 
treat  it  with  disdain  when  he  knows  it 
to  be  malicious. — All  these  appoint¬ 
ments  lead  up  to  the  grand  assize  in 
which  the  whole  world  shall  be  judged. 
— To  live  without  scrutiny  is  to  live 
without  the  enjoyment  of  many  a  privi¬ 
lege. — Scrutiny  is  not  all  on  the  side  of 
severity. — The  Old  Testament  saints 
were  sometimes  enabled  to  plead  their 
integrity  under  circumstances  of  perse¬ 
cution  as  a  ground  for  divine  protection. 


They  knew  that  the  enemy  had  formed 
a  wrong  estimate  of  their  character,  and, 
being  confident  of  this,  they  had  also 
confidence  in  God. — Such  scrutiny  as 
is  indicated  in  the  text  shows  that  there 
are  circumstances  in  life  which  can  only 
be  met  by  severe  moral  inquest.  Pene¬ 
trating  questions  must  be  asked  ;  detailed 
examination  must  be  conducted.  A 
man  must,  so  to  say,  retire  within 
himself,  and  submit  every  part  of  him¬ 
self  to  scrutiny,  as  if  each  part  were  a 
separate  individuality.  The  sin  may 
be  found  lurking  in  the  imagination, 
the  taste,  the  affections,  the  understand¬ 
ing,  the  selfishness  or  the  ignorance 
of  man. — The  man  must  not  look  upon 
himself  as  a  whole,  and  ask  general 
questions  regarding  his  conduct,  but 
must  regard  himself  as  divided  into 
many  attributes  and  forces,  and  must 
seize  each,  and  by  severest  cross-exami¬ 
nation  discover  which  is  the  Achan, 
the  thief,  the  idolater,  the  miser,  the 
blasphemer,  the  liar  ;  it  is  easy  to  talk 
about  a  general  examination  and  to 
pronounce  vague  judgments  ;  we  are 
called  to  analysis  severe  and  exhaustive. 
— He  does  not  love  himself,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  bitterly  hates  himself,  who 
is  unfaithful  in  this  matter  of  self¬ 
scrutiny. 


“  He  hath  wrought  folly  in  Israel." — 
Joshua  vii.  15. 

The  charge  seems  to  be  a  two-fold 
one.  The  first  is  that  “He  hath 
transgressed  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  ;  ” 
and  the  second  is  that  “  He  hath 
wrought  folly.” — Look  upon  sin  as  being 
not  only  criminal  but  foolish. — The 
sinner  is  not  only  a  criminal,  but  a  fool. 
He  plays  with  fire,  and  burns  himself. 
He  trifles  with  edged  instruments,  and 
maims  himself.  He  tampers  with  eternal 
forces,  and  thus  in  every  way  disables 
and  impoverishes  himself. — It  is  pitiful 
to  think  that  at  the  end  the  sinner  will 


“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSED 


stand  forth  as  a  fool,  and  not  as  a  hero. 
He  mistakes  the  relations  of  things ;  the 
values  of  things  ;  the  consequences  of 
actions. — A  great  French  statesman 
was  blamed  because  he  pronounced  a 
certain  policy  not  only  as  a  crime,  but 
worse  than  a  crime — a  blunder. — Crime 
does  not  touch  one  side  of  the  character 
alone,  for  then  under  some  conditions 
it  might  claim  somewhat  of  heroic 
importance,  and  be  invested  with  a 
kind  of  transient  grandeur. — According 
to  the  Christian  conception  the  universe 
is  a  great  moral  constitution ;  not  an 
infinite  vastness  of  matter,  but  a  symbol 
and  expression  of  something  within 
tenderly  sensitive  and  ineffably  pure : 
he,  therefore,  who  operates  in  a  manner 
contrary  to  its  law  and  purpose  under¬ 
takes  to  supersede  Omniscience,  and  to 
re-create  creation :  at  the  end  he 
stands  forth  in  pitiable  weakness  :  a 
man  who  is  not  only  regarded  as  foolish, 
but  who  is  constrained  to  call  himself 
a  fool. — Some  men  are  more  touched 
by  the  contempt  which  follows  upon 
folly,  than  by  the  censure  which  follows 
upon  crime ;  their  pride  is  affected, 
their  sense  of  dignity  is  lowered. — God 
thus  attacks  the  sinner  at  every  point ; 
he  shows  that  in  the  very  act  of  playing 
the  great  man  the  sinner  becomes  a 
foolish  man,  and  is  obliged  at  last  to 
confess  that  his  conception  of  life  has 
been  a  profound  and  pitiable  mistake. — 
Folly  has  but  a  short  day.  The  time 
of  its  revelation  is  always  at  hand. — No 
sinner  has  ever  proved  himself  to  have 
been  both  a  genius  and  a  criminal  in 
the  moral  sense :  genius  there  may 
have  been  in  the  conception  of  the 
crime  as  a  merely  mechanical  or  social 
act,  but  the  folly  of  it  has  been  demon¬ 
strated  by  its  consequences. — It  may  be 
for  this  reason  that  God  pities  the 
sinner :  he  sees  what  a  fool  the  sinner 
is  ;  he  sees  to  what  fate  of  contempt 
and  shame  the  sinner  is  hastening  ;  he 
knows  it  is  hard  for  the  sinner  to  kick 


277 


against  the  pricks. — On  every  ground 
God  hates  the  sin  and  pities  the  sinner. 


“  ,  .  .  an  altar  of  whole  stones,  over 
which  no  man  hath  lift  up  any 
iron.” — Joshua  viii.  31. 

This  is  a  point  in  the  spiritual  educa¬ 
tion  of  man. — We  must  think  ourselves 
back  to  the  time  when  such  mechanical 
exactitude  was  part  of  personal  and 
national  religion. — The  uses  of  such 
studies  may  be  to  show  how  far  we 
have  advanced,  and  to  inquire  into  the 
methods  by  which  our  progress  has 
been  realised. — We  do  not  advance 
from  those  points  unless  we  have  really 
been  at  them  ourselves,  either  literally 
or  sympathetically. — It  is  not  enough 
to  know  that  the  Israelites  were  at  the 
point  of  literal  detail,  such  as  is  indicated 
in  the  text ;  we  must  ourselves  have 
been  at  that  point  in  some  clearly 
recognised  sense  ;  we  do  not  descend 
upon  great  spiritual  privileges,  but  we 
work  up  to  them  through  processes  of 
subservience ;  we  are  not  born  into  this 
household  of  grace  and  liberty,  but  are 
brought  into  it  by  long  processes  of 
self-rebuke,  self-chastisement,  and  self- 
denial  ;  all  men  must  begin  at  the 
alphabet,  and  pursue  their  way  into  the 
delights  of  literature. — It  is  the  same 
with  religion  as  it  is  with  education. — 
We  are  born  into  a  great  literary  estate, 
full  of  philosophy,  poetry,  history,  and 
imagination  ;  yet  though  we  are  born 
into  this  inheritance  and  have  certain 
rights  to  it,  we  can  only  claim  the 
inheritance  by  becoming  patient  in¬ 
quirers  and  students  :  when  the  philo¬ 
sopher  leaves  his  philosophy  to  the 
world,  even  his  own  children  must 
begin  at  the  alphabet,  and  toil  rip  ihe 
ascent  upon  which  the  graet  fortune 
stands. — Passages  of  this  kind  rebuke 
the  idea  that  religion  now  is  a  merely 
off-handed  exercise,  a  pleasure  that  can 
be  taken  up  or.  laid  down  :  a  species  of 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


278 


luxury  which  may  be  languidly  enjoyed 
or  languidly  declined. — To  build  the 
altar  is  not  to  create  the  God. — To  build 
the  church  is  not  to  unfold  the  revela¬ 
tion. — There  is  a  wonderful  co-operatioq 
in  the  whole  process  of  religion. — God 
will,  so  to  say,  be  met  half-way.  —  He 
will  come  to  the  top  of  the  mountain, 
and  meet  us  at  the  end  of  our  oppor¬ 
tunity. — A  beautiful  thought  is  this, 
that  God  sometimes  will  come  no 
further  down  than  to  the  top  of  the 
mountain;  if  he  remained  one  league 
above  it,  we  could  not  reach  him ;  but 
it  is  in  accord  with  his  mercy  that  he 
begins  where  man  ends  ;  man  toils  to 
the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  cannot 
proceed  one  step  further,  and  it  is  in 
this  extremity  that  God  creates  his  own 
opportunity.  — Although  altar-building 
may  now  have  been  done  away,  and 
much  of  mechanical  process  may  have 
been  abrogated,  yet  still  there  remains 
the  great  fact  that  man  must  always 
make  some  preparation  to  meet  God 
and  enter  into  the  full  enjoyment  of 
religious  privileges. — The  preparation 
indicates  the  spirit  of  the  worshipper. 
— When  called  upon  to  offer  hospitality 
to  a  king,  we  prepare  according  to  the 
dignity  of  the  guest  ;  when  summoned 
to  the  presence  of  some  great  one, 
all  our  preparations  are  made  with 
a  view  to  the  greatness  of  the  man 
whom  we  have  to  meet. — We  have  only 
to  apply  these  facts  in  a  religious  direc¬ 
tion  to  discover  what  we  ought  to  do 
when  we  are  called  upon  to  commune 
with  Heaven. 


“  .  .  .  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  fought  for 
Israel .” — Joshua  x.  42. 

Israel  was  an  undivided  name  be¬ 
tokening  a  complete  whole. —  The 
Israelite,  as  an  individual,  had  no  exist¬ 
ence  from  Israel,  the  whole  number. — If 
one  man  wandered  away  from  Israel, 
the  whole  body  felt  itself  in  a  state  of 


incompleteness,  and  was  inspired  by  a 
spirit  of  solicitude  and  yearning  after 
the  absent  one. — There  is  a  nationality 
as  well  as  a  personality. — We  miss  a 
good  deal  by  supposing  that  life  is 
wrholly  a  question  of  individualities. —  In 
a  very  important  sense  it  is  so,  but  in 
another  equally  important  sense  it  is  not 
so. — England  has  a  character  as  well  as 
every  Englishman. — We  speak  of  the 
health  of  a  country  and  say  it  is  good, 
at  the  very  moment  when  thousands  of 
persons  are  lying  without  ability  to  walk 
or  work  :  we  speak  of  the  wealth  of  a 
country,  and  call  it  exceedingly  abun¬ 
dant,  at  the  very  moment  that  work- 
houses  are  crowded  with  inmates  ;  we 
speak  of  the  intelligence  of  a  country, 
and  may  describe  some  countries  as  the 
most  intelligent  in  the  whole  world, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  there 
are  within  them  uncounted  numbers 
of  illiterate  persons. — -Thus  there  is 
another  life  beside  the  merely  personal. 
— God  is  here  represented  as  fighting 
for  nations. — God  never  fights  for  any 
nation  simply  because  it  is  a  nation,  but 
because  as  a  nation  it  is  on  the  right 
side  of  the  controversy. — God  has  no 
partiality  for  any  land,  except  in  the 
degree  in  which  that  land  is  marked  by 
righteousness  of  purpose  and  action. — 
Patriotism  is  folly  unless  it  be  based 
upon  moral  considerations  as  well  as 
upon  kindred  and  sentiment. — Through¬ 
out  the  wrhole  Bible  the  Lord  has 
always  shown  himself  as  ready  to  give 
up  one  nation  as  another  when  moral 
fidelity  was  impaired  or  perverted. — 
Men  cannot  be  permitted  to  unite 
themselves  with  Israel  on  the  ground 
that  God  always  fights  for  that  particular 
denomination.  This  would  be  selfish¬ 
ness,  not  piety. — God  searches  the  heart, 
and  judges  absolutely  by  the  motive. — 
No  nation  then  must  pride  itself  upon 
being  a  particular  favourite  of  Heaven  : 
God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  :  God  is  the  Father  of  the  whole 


“ HANDFULS 


world  :  God  is  only  on  the  side  of  the 
righteous  man,  be  that  man  black  or 
white,  great  in  wealth  or  mean  in 
poverty. 


“  He  left  nothing  undone  of  all  that  the 

Lord  commanded  JlosesT — Josh.ua 

xi.  15. 

An  easy  sentence,  but  a  most  diffi¬ 
cult  process.  —  First  of  all,  here  is  an 
assumption  that  Joshua  was  a  student. 
How  did  he  know  what  the  Lord  had 
commanded  Moses,  except  by  diligent 
inquiry  and  study  ? — Not  only  was 
Joshua  a  student,  he  was  a  minute  or 
critical  student. — He  did  not  take  a 
merely  general  view  of  divine  com¬ 
mandment,  but  went  into  particularity  ; 
“  he  left  nothing  undone  of  all  that  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses  ;  ”  the  word 
“all”  is  the  critical  point. — Here  is  a 
process  of  enumeration,  weighing, 
balancing,  and  allotment :  some  things 
are  to  be  done  by  day  and  some  by 
night  ;  some  things  were  essentially  and 
others  relatively  important ;  Joshua  had 
to  study  the  perspective  of  the  moral 
outlook,  and  not  to  commit  folly  by  the 
transposition  of  persons  or  events. — Not 
only  was  Joshua  a  student,  and  a 
critical  student,  he  was  a  man  of  active 
obedience.  His  life  was  a  process  of 
doing.  He  found  enough  to  do  from 
the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down 
of  the  same. — God  has  left  no  vacant 
hours  in  all  the  day.  God  has  made 
benevolent  preparation  for  sleep  or  rest, 
but  he  has  also  made  abundant  arrange¬ 
ments  for  industry  and  service. — Not 
only  was  Joshua  a  student,  a  critical 
student,  and  a  man  of  active  obedience, 
but  he  was  inspired  by  rhe  thought  that 
all  he  did  was  done  under  the  direction 
and  for  the  glory  of  God. — It  is  some¬ 
thing  to  know  that  we  are  working,  for 
what  master  we  are  acting,  and  in  view 
of  what  reward. — The  strength  is  often 
found  in  the  motive. — Far  behind  all 


OF  PURPOSE .” 


outward  instrumentality,  we  find  our 
power  in  spiritual  philosophy,  thought, 
and  confidence.— Herein  is  the  supreme 
value  of  prayer  :  it  shuts  us  up  in  close 
communion  with  God  ;  it  leads  us  to 
the  very  fountain  of  power  ;  it  clothes 
us  with  ineffable  dignity. — A  blessed 
thing  it  is  to  realise  that  our  whole  life- 
plan  is  laid  down  for  us. — In  the  matter 
of  moral  purity  and  action  we  have 
nothing  to  invent ;  the  commandments 
are  all  written,  and  will  all  be  under¬ 
stood  by  the  heart  that  really  wishes  to 
know  their  meaning. — It  is  a  sign  of  s. 
false  life  when  a  man  hesitates  on  the 
ground  that  he  really  does  not  know 
what  his  duty  is.  Duty  is  perfectly  and 
continually  plain  to  the  man  whose 
motive  is  simple.  “What  doth  the 
Lord  thy  God  require  of  thee  ?”  “  What 
is  written  in  the  law  ?  ”  *•  Flow  readest 

thou  ?  ” — T  here  can  only  be  bewilderment 
in  the  matter  of  detail ;  there  can  never 
be  any  confusion  as  to  the  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong,  noble  and 
ignoble,  upward  and  downward. 


“  There  remaineth  yet  very  much  land 
to  be  possessed." — Joshua  xiii.  1. 

This  is  no  threat.  This  is  no  sentence 
of  discouragement.  This  indeed  is  in¬ 
spiration. — It  is  true  of  every  depart¬ 
ment  of  life.  It  is  true,  fer  example, 
of  a  man’s  own  individuality  :  every 
man  is  not  yet  master  of  his  entire 
self :  some  men  have  possessed  them¬ 
selves  of  their  whole  reason  who  have 
yet  left  their  imagination  unchastened 
and  unsubdued. — Many  men  are  chasie 
who  are  not  generous.  Many  men  are 
generous  who  are  not  just.  Many  men 
are  impulsively  good  who  are  not 
rationally  benevolent. — Such  men  may 
say  to  themselves,  “  There  is  yet  very 
much  land  to  be  possessed.” — It  is  true 
with  all  intellectual  education. — He 
knows  best  how  much  land  is  yet  to 
be  conquered  who  has  conquered  the 


28o 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


most. — The  advanced  student  is  the 
most  modest. — The  wisest  man  is  most 
assured  of  his  ignorance. — Sir  Isaac 
Newton  said  that  he  was  like  a  child 
on  the  seashore  who  gathered  a  few 
pebbles,  while  the  great  ocean  of  truth 
lay  all  undiscovered  before  him. — It  is 
true  with  regard  to  the  spread  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ. — Take  a  map  of 
the  world,  and  show  where  Christianity 
has  made  progress,  and  where  it  is  un¬ 
known  ;  and  even  the  imagination  will 
be  appalled  by  the  extent  of  land  yet 
to  be  covered. — We  need  not  rest 
because  there  is  no  more  to  be  done. — 
We  do  not  obliterate  what  is  to  be 
done  by  closing  our  eyes  and  resolutely 
refusing  to  look  upon  it.  The  infinite 
darkness  is  still  round  about  us,  and 
is  not  at  all  decreased  by  the  closing 
of  our  eyes. — But  instead  of  the  text 
being  a  discouragement,  it  is  an  en¬ 
couragement  ;  the  land  is  there  in  order 
that  it  may  be  possessed  ;  it  is  not  afar 
off  and  inaccessible,  but  is  immediately 
in  front  of  us,  and  is  intended  for  our 
use  ;  we  may  have  to  obtain  possession 
through  battle  and  even  through  suffer¬ 
ing,  but  the  battle  and  the  suffering 
do  not  destroy  the  possibility  of  posses¬ 
sion. — What  is  worth  holding  that  has 
not  to  be  secured  through  suffering 
and  loss  of  a  temporary  kind  ?  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  itself  lies  at  the 
end  of  a  strait  road ;  but  the  very 
straitness  of  the  road  gives  some  hint 
of  the  value  of  the  kingdom. — The 
Church  must  enter  into  a  full  realisation 
of  the  fact  that  the  work  yet  to  be  done 
is  greater  than  any  work  that  has  yet 
been  accomplished  :  it  is  not  an  acre 
that  awaits  conquest,  but  a  whole  con¬ 
tinent  ;  not  a  whole  continent  only,  but 
a  whole  world. — The  work  to  be  done 
enlarges  in  proportion  to  the  wTork  that 
is  done. — If  the  work  were  superficial 
only,  it  might  be  completed  with  com¬ 
parative  ease,  but  it  is  cubic,  solid, 
through-and-through  work,  and,  there¬ 


fore,  it  is  difficult,  but  its  difficulty  is 
an  indication  of  its  glory. 


“  The  Lord  God  of  Israel  was  their 
inheritance,  as  he  said  unto  them." 
— Joshua  xiii.  33. 

This  was  spoken  of  the  tribe  of  Levi 
— in  a  peculiar  sense  the  religious  tribe 
of  Israel — The  kingdom  of  God  has 
an  outward  and  an  inward  aspect :  it 
has  a  land  to  be  conquered,  and  it  has 
a  doctrine  to  be  received  and  obeyed. — 
The  idea  of  the  text  is  that  man  may 
so  live  in  God  as  to  have  no  conscious 
need  of  outward  things  :  and  then  the 
counterpart  of  the  idea  is  that  he  who 
ascends  to  spiritual  functions  need  have 
no  fear  with  regard  to  the  supply  of 
physical  necessities. — God  is  not  the 
portion  of  x-eligious  men  in  the  sense 
of  feeding  themselves  only  with  thought 
and  consolation  and  promise ;  he  is 
pledged  so  to  act  upon  the  impulses 
and  consciences  of  other  men  as  to  see 
that  every  lawful  necessity  is  abun¬ 
dantly  supplied. — Whilst  the  Levites 
were  asking  for  God,  God  was  asking 
for  them,  in  the  very  sense  of  finding 
them  bread  and  home  and  security. — If 
we  trusted  God  more  we  should  receive 
more  from  God. — If  we  will  always 
persist  in  undertaking  our  own  business, 
what  wonder  if  God  should  leave  us  to 
ourselves  and  give  us  the  reward  of 
disappointment?  “  Seek  ye  first  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteous¬ 
ness  ;  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you.” — Blessed  is  he  who 
has  God  for  a  treasurer. — It  is  more 
than  folly  to  say  that  all  this  is  im¬ 
possible. — We  imagine  that  we  must 
do  so  much  ourselves,  or  God  will  do 
nothing  for  us  ;  and  that  statement  is 
so  far  true  as  to  give  the  sophism  which 
lies  at  the  heart  of  it  some  hold  upon 
the  confidence  of  the  least  earnest 
thinkers. — The  text  certainly  suggests 
that  God  has  appointed  some  men  to 


“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSED 


281 


be  the  spiritual  teachers  and  guides  of 
the  world. — We  cannot  get  rid  of  the 
idea  of  spiritual  ministry. — It  is  right 
to  disclaim  all  merely  official  dignity 
and  importance,  but  infinitely  beyond 
the  merely  official  lies  the  grandly 
personal  and  real,  which  all  men  recog¬ 
nise  with  admiration,  and  many  men 
honour  with  homage  and  generous 
support. — When  spiritual  thinkers  and 
workers  give  themselves  wholly  to  the 
function  assigned  them  of  God,  they 
will  realise  more  perfectly  God’s  mean¬ 
ing  when  he  says  he  has  undertaken 
to  be  their  inheritance;  the  meaning 
is  not  that  they  are  to  live  upon  fine 
thoughts  and  splendid  conceptions,  but 
that  in  addition  to  such  thoughts  and 
conceptions  God  himself  will  undertake 
to  see  that  their  house  is  watched  and 
their  table  is  supplied. — “  He  is  able 
to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all 
that  we  ask  or  think.”  “  God  is  not 
unrighteous  to  forget  your  work  and 
labour  of  love.” — No  man  can  work 
wholly  and  lovingly  for  God,  and  be 
neglected  by  him. — “  Trust  in  the 
Lord,  and  do  good  ;  so  shalt  thou 
dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  ihou  shalt 
be  fed.” 


“  Give  me  also." — Joshua  xv.  19. 

This  was  the  petition  of  Achsah,  the 
daughter  of  Caleb. — The  father  had 
given  his  daughter  a  portion  already  in 
the  form  of  a  south  land,  and  now  she 
asks  him  for  something  more,  namely, 
“springs  of  water.” — The  emphasis  of 
this  text  would  seem  to  be  on  the  word 
“also,”  if  we  accommodate  it  to  the 
temper  and  desire  of  our  own  times. — 
Achsah  was  not  content  with  the  south 
land  ;  she  wanted  an  addition. — Who 
ever  is  content  with  what  he  has?  Does 
not  one  possession  suggest  another  ? 
This  suggestion  may  be  base  and  selfish. 
It  may  indicate  a  spirit  of  greed  or 
covetousness  which  can  never  be  satis¬ 


fied.  We  have  a  proverb  which  says 
“  much  wants  more.”  Where  such  a 
spirit  is  manifested  the  possession  al¬ 
ready  in  hand  is  unworthily  held. — 
Here  is  the  secret  of  the  amazing  dis¬ 
parity  between  class  and  class,  and  the 
explanation  of  some  of  the  grossest 
tyrannies  of  history. — Men  should  watch 
their  desires  in  this  direction. — All  get¬ 
ting  should  be  accompanied  by  corre¬ 
sponding  giving. — Where  there  is  no 
outlet  there  will  soon  be  stagnation. — 
This  desire,  however,  may  be  one  of 
the  noblest  aspirations  of  the  human 
mind. — There  is  a  discontentment  which 
is  to  be  religiously  encouraged.  Say, 
for  example,  in  the  realm  of  knowledge  : 
we  go  on  from  one  advancement  to 
another,  earnestly  desiring  the  comple¬ 
tion  of  our  study  :  say,  for  example,  in 
the  region  of  Christian  donation ;  Paul 
counted  himself  not  to  have  appre¬ 
hended,  but  he  resolved  his  whole  life 
into  one  action  expressed  by  the  attitude 
of  pressing  towards  the  mark  for  the 
prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus  :  he  urged  the  Christians 
of  Corinth  to  “  covet  earnestly  the  best 
gifts  :  ”  there  is,  then,  a  covetousness 
which  is  equivalent  to  prayer  ;  a  desire 
for  more  which  is  a  holy  aspiration. — 
It  is  often  difficult  to  distinguish  be¬ 
tween  the  legitimate  and  the  illegitimate 
in  human  desire.  As  a  broad  rule  it 
may  be  said  that  all  desire  for  more 
material  possession  or  personal  gratifi¬ 
cation  is  wrong ;  and  all  desire  for 
more  light,  clearer  insight  into  truth, 
and  fuller  realisation  of  duty,  is  right. — 
Every  man  must  determine  this  for  him¬ 
self. — There  must  be  no  shrinking  from 
the  most  penetrating  inquiry. — When 
the  soul  is  really  anxious  to  know  what 
its  own  desires  are  in  the  sight  of  God, 
there  cannot  be  the  slightest  difficulty 
in  obtaining  the  information. 


282 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


“ .  .  .  .  the  children  of  Israel  gave 
an  inheritance  to  Joshua  the  son 
of  Nun  among  them." — Joshua 
xix.  49. 

Joshua  had  rights  of  his  own,  and 
could  have  claimed  such  rights  ;  but 
beyond  rights  which  a  man  may  claim 
are  still  more  precious  rights  which  are 
accorded  to  him  by  the  conscience  and 
generosity  of  the  community. — This  is 
the  very  law  of  divine'  providence. — 
The  fact  that  we  are  born  into  the  world 
is  a  fact  which  brings  with  it  certain 
natural  rights,  in  the  absence  of  which 
we  should  hardly  be  men  at  all.  But 
this  is  not  the  limit  of  the  divine  bounty. 
Beyond  all  that  is  merely  legal  and 
necessary  there  is  a  region  of  grace,  of 
large  and  happy  dowry,  showing  not 
only  the  bare  justice,  but  the  sweet 
mercy  of  the  rule  under  which  we  live. — 
In  a  social  sense  it  is  true  that  we  might 
get  more  if  we  claimed  less. — Joshua 
lived  a  noble  life  amongst  his  people, 
and  carried  out  his  function  of  leader¬ 
ship  with  obvious  justice  and  disin¬ 
terestedness,  and  it  is  beautiful  to 
observe  how  the  people  seem  to  have 
recognised  this  by  their  willing  conces¬ 
sion  to  him  of  an  inheritance  by  their 
coasts. — This  should  be  true  in  all 
family  life.  Obedience  is  due  to  parents 
by  an  unwritten  law,  as  well  as  by  formal 
decree ;  but  beyond  obedience  there 
lies  the  whole  region  of  voluntary  testi¬ 
mony  and  service.  Blessed  is  he  who 
gives  his  parent  an  inheritance  in  that 
wide  region  ! — The  same  thing  should 
be  true  in  commercial  relations  :  there 
should  be  something  more  than  a  bond : 
where  the  bond  is  carried  out  loyally  on 
both  sides  Duty  will  gracefully  take  upon 
itself  any  crown  which  Gratitude  may 
be  disposed  to  place  upon  its  head. — 
This  should  be  also  true  ecclesiastically  : 
men  who  have  laboured  in  season  and  out 
of  season  for  the  good  of  others  ought  not 
to  be  forgotten  in  the  time  of  audit  and 
general  winding  up  of  life  and  service, 


but  should  have  accorded  to  them  all 
possible  honour  in  view  of  a  life  un¬ 
stained  by  sin,  and  crowded  with  acts  of 
beneficence  and  sacrifice. — The  charm 
of  some  possessions  lies  in  the  spirit 
which  dictated  their  ownership. — It  is 
a  poor  thing  to  have  only  those  posses¬ 
sions  which  are  bought  and  sold,  and  on 
which  merely  commercial  lines  are  in¬ 
scribed  ;  such  things,  of  course,  every 
man  must  have  ;  but  the  things  which 
are  written  all  over  with  love  and  thank¬ 
fulness  are  infinitely  more  precious,  and 
in  an  obvious  sense  are  even  more 
enduring. — No  man  begrudged  Joshua 
his  city  in  mount  Ephraim  :  every  one 
felt  that  the  city  was  due  to  the  brave 
captain  and  obedient  saint. — It  is  well 
when  our  honours  are  doubled  by  the 
recognition  of  their  desert  by  those  who 
know  us  best. — The  Well-done  of  the 
Master  constitutes  the  best  part  of  heaven. 
— To  go  into  heaven  even  as  a  mere  act 
of  justice  is  to  deprive  the  holy  city  of 
its  most  fascinating  charm.  It  is  because 
the  city  is  given  with  the  Well-done 
of  its  King  that  residence  in  it  becomes 
the  final  and  eternal  joy  of  the  soul. 


“  Appoint  out  for  you  cities  of  refit-gel' — 
Joshua  xx.  2. 

The  law  in  Numbers  xxxv.  appointed 
that  the  Levites  should  have  six  cities 
of  refuge  and  forty-two  others. — The 
law  of  the  cities  of  refuge  is  given  in 
full  in  Numbers  xxxv.  and  Deuteronomy 
xix. — All  cities  should  be  cities  of  re¬ 
fuge. — How  great  the  number  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  how  well -organised 
the  institutions  ;  how  fitting,  then, 
that  the  young  and  the  inexperienced 
should  find  refuge  in  such  highly- 
civilised  asylums. — The  city  is  an  ag¬ 
gregation  of  homes,  and  should  surely 
bring  the  home  feeling  into  wandering 
and  aching  hearts. — Is  not  the  city 
crowded  with  churches  ?  And  are  there 
not  in  them  men  of  God  appointed 


“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE." 


283 


to  preach  the  great  Gospel  which  was 
meant  to  heal  the  dying  life  of  man  ? — 
All  these  reflections  suggest  the  gracious 
thought  of  refuge. — Where  men  are  few 
it  would  appear  as  if  the  soul  were 
more  exposed  to  assault. — Solitude  has 
dangers  peculiar  to  itself. — When  the 
young  life  is  hidden  amongst  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  others, 
surely  it  ought  to  feel  a  sense  of  se¬ 
curity,  because  in  such  a  number  the 
spirit  and  genius  of  brotherhood  should 
be  developed  and  crowned. — Consider 
what  libraries  there  are  in  the  city  ; 
how  rich  in  literary  treasure  ;  how  im¬ 
possible  is  solitude  in  the  midst  of  such 
eloquent  silence. — Is  not  a  library  itself 
a  city  of  refuge  ? — May  not  wandering 
thoughts  be  stayed  amid  all  its  treasures 
of  learning  and  language  ? — Who  can  be 
lonely  in  any  sense  of  desolateness  who 
has  access  to  a  library  ? — Whilst  all  this 
is  pictorially  true,  consider  how  different 
is  the  melancholy  fact. — The  city  is  full 
of  trapdoors  opening  upon  perdition. — 
Count  the  number  of  its  inns,  places 
of  harmful  amusement,  people  devoted 
to  what  has  now  become  the  fine  art  of 
knavery,  sharp  practice,  and  all  manner 
of  delusion. — Consider  how  the  net  is 
spread  even  in  the  sight  of  the  bird,  and 
the  snare  is  laid  on  the  open  ground. — 
Compare  a  city  as  it  might  be  with  a 
city  as  it  is,  and  see  how  steady  and 
tremendous  has  been  the  process  of 
degradation  and  corruption. — It  has 
pleased  God  to  represent  his  Church 
and  kingdom  under  the  image  of  a 
city. — We  read  in  the  Psalms  of  “  the 
city  of  God.” — Heaven  is  represented 
as  a  city  whose  walls  are  jasper  and 
whose  streets  are  gold. — This  would 
seem  to  be  a  restoration  of  the  ideal 
city. — It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
a  city  is  bad  simply  because  it  is  a 
city. — Association,  companionship,  in¬ 
terchange  of  opinion,  the  commin¬ 
gling  of  trusts  and  stewardships,  ought 
all  to  combine  to  constitute  an  idea 


of  commonwealth,  brotherhood,  and 
home. — In  proportion  as  the  city  is 
really  bad,  the  Church  should  take  care 
to  provide  refuges  from  all  its  malicious 
pursuers  and  an  answer  to  all  its  se¬ 
ductive  appeals. — Let  there  be  a  city 
within  a  city, — the  city  of  God  within 
the  city  of  destruction. 


“  The  avenger  of  blooi.” — JOSHUA  xx.  5. 

The  text  of  course  is  limited  by  a 
local  reference,  but  its  suggestions 
spread  themselves  over  the  whole  area 
of  life  and  society. — Recognise  the  fact 
that  there  is  in  all  civilisation  an  aven¬ 
ger  of  blood. — This  indeed  is  necessary 
to  the  complete  idea  of  civilisation. — If 
blood  could  be  shed  with  impunity, 
civilisation  itself  would  be  a  continual 
prey  to  passion. — God  has  set  a  high 
price  upon  blood  ;  its  quality  would 
seem  to  be  kindred  to  his  own  ;  it  is 
full  of  fire,  vitality ;  it  is  the  very  al¬ 
phabet  of  immortality. — Every  human 
creature  is  of  inexpressible  consequence 
to  God. — Given  a  globe  consisting  of 
twelve  hundred  millions  of  human 
beings,  and  who  can  assign  the  exact 
importance  to  any  one  of  them  ? — What 
is  he  but  as  a  fleck  of  snow  upon  a 
landscape,  a  drop  in  the  Atlantic,  an 
insect  hardly  visible  in  the  sunbeam 
in  which  it  dances  for  a  moment? — 
Not  such  is  the  divine  view  ;  the  very 
hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered  ; 
the  providence  of  God  is  minute,  per¬ 
sonal,  critical,  exacting  the  uttermost 
farthing,  and  ruling  all  things  with  the 
severest  economy. — Civilised  society 
takes  in  its  degree  the  same  view  of 
human  life,  for  not  a  single  child  may 
be  touched  without  society  instantly 
arising  as  an  avenger  of  blood. — Surely 
there  can  be  no  great  offence  in  de¬ 
stroying  an  unconscious  life,  in  putting 
an  end  to  an  infancy  which  has  barely 
begun, — what  can  be  the  loss? — Yet 
even  society  itself  instantly  demands 


284 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


an  answer  to  the  accusation  of  child- 
murder  :  no  excuse  would  be  tolerated  : 
no  fine  theory  of  limiting  the  popula¬ 
tion  would  be  admitted  for  one  moment : 
organised  society  instantly  becomes  as 
it  were  the  parent  of  the  child,  and 
demands  an  account  of  its  life  and 
recompense  for  its  loss. — This  being  so 
with  regard  to  the  body,  are  we  not 
entitled  to  lift  the  argument  to  a 
higher  level,  and  to  contend  that 
there  should  be  an  avenger  of  mind, 
thought,  purpose,  as  well  as  an  avenger 
of  blood? — They  that  kill  the  body  can 
do  but  little  ;  they  are  indeed  hardly 
to  be  feared  in  comparison  with  those 
who  can  sow  the  seed  Of  wickedness 
in  the  opening  heart,  and  suggest  evil 
thoughts  to  the  awakening  mind. — If 
we  slay  him  who  slays  the  body,  what 
should  be  done  to  him  who  takes  away 
the  life  of  the  soul,  who  perverts  the 
operation  of  motive  and  purpose,  and 
who  drags  down  the  whole  life  to 
shame  and  infamy  ? — All  this  anxiety 
about  the  body,  its  protection  and  its 
prerogatives,  is  but  the  beginning  of 
an  infinitely  higher  argument,  if  we 
are  just  to  its  logic. — He  would  be 
accounted  a  fool  who  cared  for  the 
child's  clothing,  but  paid  no  attention 
to  the  child’s  health  :  how  much 
greater  a  fool  is  he  who  pays  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  child’s  health  of  body  and 
utterly  neglects  the  child’s  health  of 
mind  ! — Consider  how  the  avenger 
steadily  proceeds  in  his  task  :  men 
cannot  sin  with  impunity  :  they  are 
made  to  feel  the  result  of  their  wicked¬ 
ness  in  their  health,  in  their  property, 
in  their  whole  outlook  of  life  ;  their 
fellow  men  shrink  from  them  ;  they  are 
distrusted,  and  handed  over  to  repro¬ 
bation,  if  not  always  openly,  and  as 
it  were  by  public  demonstration,  yet 
more  or  less  secretly,  silently,  but 
surely  :  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that 
shall  he  also  reap.  There  is  an 
avenger  of  blood  upon  the  track  of 


every  bad  man  ;  as  to  when  he  shall 
be  discovered  and  punished  no  man  can 
tell  the  exact  time,  but  God  fixes  it, 
and  by  the  decree  of  Heaven,  though 
hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not 
be  unpunished. 


il  And  they  appointed  Kedesh  in  Galilee 
in  mount  Naphtali ,  and  Shechetn  in 
mount  Ephraim,  and  A  bjath-arba, 
which  is  Hebron ,  in  the  mountain 
of  Judah." — -Joshua  xx.  7. 

The  mountains  of  the  Bible  form  an 
interesting  subject  of  study  as  to  their 
moral  suggestiveness.  —  A  beautiful 
thought  is  it  that  the  cities  of  refuge 
should  be  upon  the  mountain-top,  or 
should  nestle  in  the  sides  of  the  moun¬ 
tain. — Two  ideas  of  strength  seem  to 
combine  here,  the  mountain  itself  being 
strong  and  the  city  built  upon  it  in¬ 
violable. — Thus  the  works  of  God  and 
the  works  of  man  unite  in  a  holy  effort 
to  secure  human  life. — Are  not  all  the 
works  of  God  intended  to  save  and  edu¬ 
cate  and  complete  manhood  ? — When¬ 
ever  the  works  of  God  fight  against 
manhood  we  may  be  sure  that  sin  is 
operating  with  deadly  effect  in  some 
direction.  —  The  whole  world-house 
seems  to  have  been  built  for  the  ac¬ 
commodation  of  the  tenant ;  for  him 
the  sun  shines,  the  rivers  flow,  the 
earth  grows  her  harvests,  and  the  sea 
yields  its  population. — Man  should  add 
nothing  to  the  works  of  God  that  is  not 
in  their  own  nature  and  according  to 
the  direction  of  their  own  purpose. — 
To  build  a  home  upon  the  fair  land¬ 
scape  is  to  add  to  its  beauty  ;  to  build 
a  church  on  the  noblest  elevation  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth  is  to  lift  the 
mountain  to  a  higher  altitude. — The 
earth  is  sanctified  or  desecrated  by 
what  is  put  upon  it. — The  schoolhouse 
ennobles  the  district  in  which  it  is 
placed. — Every  benevolent  institution 
is  as  a  tree  of  the  Lord’s  own  plant- 


“  HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSE.” 


285 


ing,  though  it  be  set  in  the  midst 
of  a  garden,  or  made  the  crowning 
point  of  a  lofty  summit.  —  On  the 
l  other  hand,  how  much  has  the  earth 
been  desecrated  by  the  presence  of 
buildings  upon  it  devoted  to  evil  pur¬ 
poses. — The  public-house  maybe  a  blot 
upon  the  landscape  ;  the  building  in 
which  evil  arts  are  practised  and  evil 
professions  are  taught  is  as  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  perdition  in  the  very  sanctuary 
of  nature. — We  should  find  more  upon 
the  mountains  if  we  looked  for  more. — 
God  has  put  cities  of  refuge  upon  every 
one  of  them. — The  mountains  them¬ 
selves  may  be  cities  of  refuge  ;  there 
the  weary  reap  new  strength  ;  there  the 
over-driven  and  fevered  brain  cools 
itself  and  receives  a  tonic,  enabling  it  to 
resume  the  battle  of  life  and  carry  it  on 
to  conquest. — Not  one  thing  in  all 
nature  has  had  its  full  meaning  yet 
disclosed. — God  burns  in  every  bush  ; 
his  house  is  by  the  seashore  ;  his  taber¬ 
nacle  is  in  the  stars  ;  his  temple  is 
in  the  tiniest  flower  that  blooms. — The 
day  is  coming  when  the  whole  earth 
shall  be  the  mountain  of  God;  “no 
lion  shall  be  there,  nor  any  ravenous 
beast  shall  go  up  thereon,  it  shall  not 
be  found  there  ;  but  the  redeemed 
shall  walk  there :  .  .  .  and  sorrow  and 
sighing  shall  flee  away.” — To  bring 
about  that  day  we  are  not  called  upon 
to  be  ideal,  to  dream  away  our  time,  to 
slumber  in  selfish  contemplation  ;  we 
are  rather  summoned  to  activity,  to  dis¬ 
cipline,  to  suffering  ;  every  man  should 
feel  as  if  the  dawning  of  that  day  de¬ 
pended  upon  his  individual  exertions. 

\  _ 

“  Cities  to  dwell  in.” — Joshua  xxi.  2. 

This  chapter  deals  with  the  distribu¬ 
tion  of  the  Levitical  cities. — They  were 
given  to  priests,  to  Kohathites,  to  Ger- 
shonites,  and  to  Merarites. — We  are 
told  that  in  the  camp  of  Israel  there 
were  two  squares  surrounding  the 


tabernacle  :  an  inner  square  of  priests 
and  Levites,  an  outer  square  of  the 
tribes  of  Israel,  three  on  each  side. — 
Our  point,  however,  is  that  every  tribe 
had  a  city. — The  distribution  was  so 
made  as  to  involve  each  and  all  in 
some  responsibility  or  trust. — The 
Kohathites  carried  the  sacred  vessels, 
the  Gershonites  the  curtains  and  various 
fabrics  of  the  tent  and  tabernacle,  and 
the  Merarites  were  entrusted  with  the 
bars  and  boards. — Wherever  we  find 
distribution  in  Scripture  we  find  it  so 
meted  out  that  every  man  has  his  own 
particular  vocation  or  trust.  —The  king¬ 
dom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man  who 
took  his  journey  into  a  far  country,  and 
distributed  his  goods  to  his  servants, 
giving  every  one  a  portion  to  profit 
withal. — We  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  amount  of  the  distribution,  but  we 
have  a  distinct  responsibility  in  relation 
to  its  fact. — Let  every  man  ask  himself, 
What  have  I,  what  am  I  expected  to 
do,  what  burden  have  I  to  carry,  and 
what  is  the  strength  wherewith  I  am 
endowed? — No  one  man  has  all  the 
talents  :  the  greatest  cannot  do  without 
the  least. — Greatness  is  often  misunder¬ 
stood  in  this  matter  ;  the  probability  is 
that  theie  is  nothing  so  dreary  as  the 
solitude  of  greatness  when  it  is  deprived 
of  popular  recognition  and  sympathy. — 
The  mountains  may  be  very  great,  but 
they  are  often  very  barren. — The  valley 
can  do  better  without  the  mountain  than 
the  mountain  can  do  without  the  valley. 
— Though  the  talents  be  few  in  number 
they  can  be  applied  to  great  purposes. — 
The  reward  is  not  in  the  dowry  but  in 
the  industry. — It  is  not  humility  to 
deny  the  possession  of  talents ;  it  may  be 
simple  dishonesty  and  unfaithfulness. 


u  A  nd  the  Lord  gave  unto  Israel  all 
the  land  .  .  .  and  the  Lord  gave  them 
rest.” — Joshua  xxi.  43,  44. 

The  Lord  is  always  giving. — He  lives 


286 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


to  give. — “  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
he  gave  .  .  .  ” — Trace  the  word  “give’’ 
in  connection  with  God  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  Bible,  and  it  will  be  found 
that  the  extent  of  his  gifts  is  simply 
infinite. — The  point  to  be  observed  here 
is  in  the  contrast  between  the  one  gift 
and  the  other. — How  much  is  implied 
in  the  word,  “gave  unto  Israel  all  the 
land,”  when  it  is  contrasted  with  the 
expression,  “  the  Lord  gave  them  rest  !” 
— Was  there  no  rest  in  obtaining  the 
land  ?  No,  not  so  much  as  one  day. — 
Although  the  land  was  given  it  must  be 
fought  for. — This  is  the  great  law  con¬ 
cerning  all  the  gifts  of  Heaven  ;  they 
are  gifts  only  in  a  certain  sense  or  in  a 
limited  degree,  or  are  meant  as  provoca¬ 
tives  to  human  energy  or  prizes  for 
human  patience. — The  word  “give” 
must  thus  be  enlarged  so  as  to  represent 
its  whole  meaning  :  the  Lord  gives  life, 
but  man  must  train  the  life  that  is  given  : 
the  Lord  gives  opportunity,  but  man 
must  embrace  the  opportunity  and  fill 
it  with  all  its  significance  :  the  Lord 
gives  society,  but  society  must  enter 
upon  a  process  of  self-development  and 
self-protection. — The  thing  that  is  given 
may  be  but  the  first  seed,  the  germ,  the 
protoplasm  :  all  the  rest  may  come  of 
time,  the  succession  of  events,  and  the 
adaptations  of  educative  influences  and 
ministries.- — In  a  larger  sense  the  Lord 
gives  rest. — He  never  gives  rest  until 
he  has  prepared  men  for  it. — When 
men  are  not  prepared  for  rest,  they  do 
not  understand  it  as  a  blessing. — The 
six  days’  labour  make  the  Sabbath  what 
it  is  ;  but  for  the  six  days’  labour  the 
Sabbath  would  be  a  mere  institution,  a 
religious  ordinance,  an  arbitrary  dis¬ 
tribution  of  time  ;  but  after  the  six  days’ 
toil  it  comes  as  a  benediction — the  very 
beginning  and  pledge  of  Heaven.  — The 
true  rest  is  the  rest  of  the  soul. — “  Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest  ;  ” 
“There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest  to 


the  people  of  God ;  ”  “  Blessed  are 
the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  .  .  . 
that  they  may  rest  ;  ”  “  Let  us  therefore 
fear,  lest,  a  promise  being  left  us  of 
entering  into  his  rest,  any  of  you  should 
seem  to  come  short  of  it.” 


“  There  failed  not  ought  of  any  good 
thing  which  the  Lord  had  spoken 
unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  all  came 
to  pass." — Joshua  xxi.  45. 

Personal  testimony  is  better  than 
literary  argument. — Of  this  testimony 
Biblical  religion  can  always  avail  itself. 
Of  this  testimony  Christianity  can  still 
more  pointedly  make  account.  It  is  no 
mean  indication  of  the  power  of  Chris¬ 
tianity,  that  it  constrains  its  disciples 
to  bear  witness  to  the  power  of  Christ 
in  the  soul.  The  Bible  writers  are 
always  particular  to  maintain  that  the 
word  of  the  Lord  never  failed.  Failure 
there  would  have  been  fatal  to  the 
•whole  idea  of  divine  providence  as 
disclosed  in  the  Bible. — The  ancient 
writers  are,  if  possible,  more  particular 
to  notice  that  the  good  things  promised 
of  God  were  assuredly  given  rather 
than  that  his  threatenings  were  realised. 
There  seems  to  be  a  subtle  willingness 
to  overlook  the  infliction  of  punishment 
in  view  of  the  daily  and  abundant 
manifestation  of  divine  goodness. — We 
soon  forget  the  darkness  when  the  light 
shines.  The  day  whose  wind  and  rain 
gives  us  discomfort  is  speedily  forgotten 
when  the  summer  broods  over  the  land 
and  turns  it  into  one  garden  of  flowers. 
— A  very  marvellous  thing  it  is,  that  in 
health  we  soon  forget  our  sickness ; 
there  may  be  in  this  some  indication  of 
that  which  will  take  place  in  higher 
states  of  being ;  in  heaven  we  shall 
forget  every  trouble  of  earth. — A  text 
of  this  kind  seems  to  challenge  the 
reader  to  contradict  it. — If  it  were  a 
mere  question  of  argument,  one  dis¬ 
putant  might  be  outwitted  by  another  ; 


‘•HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSED 


287 


but  where  it  is  a  question  of  direct 
personal  witness,  the  character  of  the 
witness  must  be  taken  as  equivalent 
to  an  argument. — The  good  things  of 
God  seem  to  grow  in  number  and  in 
magnitude  in  proportion  as  we  look 
upon  them  from  the  point  of  advancing 
age.  We  do  not  see  them  in  their  true 
magnitude  at  first,  or  at  the  moment 
of  their  introduction  ;  we  are  then  too 
near  them  to  see  exactly  their  bearing 
and  colour  ;  a  man  at  fifty  knows  more 
of  the  riches  and  blessedness  of  life 
than  it  was  possible  for  him  to  know 
when  but  half  that  age. — The  testimony 
in  this  case  is  most  precise  and  inclusive. 
It  is  not  a  general  commendation  of  the 
faithfulness  of  God,  but  a  critical 
declaration  that  not  one  thing  failed  of 
all  which  God  had  spoken. — The  argu¬ 
ment  of  history  is  one  of  the  most  solid 
arguments  in  theology. — Doctrine  is 
attested  by  providence. — We  judge 
men  by  the  manner  in  which  they  have 
kept  their  word  to  us,  and  where  the 
word  has  been  faithfully  realised,  honour 
is  accorded  and  trust  is  increased.  It 
should  be  so  in  our  relations  to  the 
Creator  and  Ruler  of  life. 


“  What  trespass  is  this  that  ye  have  com¬ 
mitted  against  the  God  of  Israel,  to 
turn  away  this  day  from  following 
the  Lord,  in  that  ye  have  builded 
you  an  altar,  that  ye  might  rebel 
this  day  against  the  Lord ?  ” — 
Joshua  xxii.  16. 

The  children  of  Israel  are  here  re¬ 
presented  as  coming  unto  the  children 
of  Reuben  and  to  the  children  of  Gad 
and  to  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  and 
challenging  them  respecting  a  certain 
action. — Here  is  a  great  principle,  the 
application  of  which  is  world-wide  and 
time-wide  :  the  principle  is  that  men 
have  a  right  to  inquire  into  the  tres¬ 
passes  committed  by  one  another. — 
There  is  no  right  of  trespass  ;  there  is 


no  chartered  sin. — Men  are  the  keepers 
of  one  another,  and  ought  to  be  severely 
critical  as  to  the  moral  atmosphere 
which  any  man  or  number  of  men  may 
create. — It  is  worse  than  a  fallacy  to 
suppose  that  a  man  has  a  right  to  do 
even  widi  himself  as  he  pleases. — There 
is  a  sense  in  which  there  is  no  mere 
“  self”  to  be  dealt  with. — In  a  sense, 
every  man  is  a  part  of  some  other  man, 
or  part  of  the  body  corporate. — There  is 
no  isolation  in  any  sense  that  limits  evil 
action. — Even  an  infamous  example  may 
be  doing  untold  mischief  in  society, 
though  the  man  himself  may  be  taking 
no  direct  or  energetic  part  in  the  pro¬ 
pagation  of  evil. — Every  householder 
has  a  right  to  inquire  into  the  nuisances 
created  by  adjoining  householders. — No 
man  has  a  right  to  vitiate  the  common 
air ;  it  belongs  to  all  the  people,  and 
they  have  a  right  to  protect  its  purity, 
or  to  avenge  any  violation  of  its  health¬ 
fulness. — Tin's  principle  is  not  suffi¬ 
ciently  recognised  ;  hence  men  are  told 
to  mind  their  own  business  and  to  let 
other  people  alone. — The  merit  of  this 
speech  consists  entirely  in  its  brevity,  for 
it  is  wholly  without  wit,  sense,  charity, 
or  beneficence. — The  mother  has  a  right 
to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  every  road 
along  which  her  child  travels  day  by 
day. — The  parent  is  called  upon  to 
inquire  into  the  character  of  the  school 
in  which  he  may  place  his  child.— He 
wffio  detects  any  noisomeness  in  the  air 
has  a  right  to  follow  that  noisomeness 
to  its  origin I,  if  he  possibly  can,  though 
in  doing  so  he  may  have  to  trample 
down  hedges  and  boundaries  and  land¬ 
marks, — The  public  health  is  of  more 
consequence  than  the  temporary  in¬ 
tegrity  of  mechanical  boundaries. — If 
we  had  more  challenging  of  one  another 
in  this  matter  of  trespass,  we  should 
have  a  healthier  state  of  society. — The 
time  will  come  when  men  will  not  only 
be  anxious  about  nuisances  that  vitiate 
the  air  or  throw  disquietness  into  the 


288 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


social  life ;  they  will  be  still  more 
anxious  about  thoughts  that  unbalance 
the  mind,  ambitions  that  fever  the  soul, 
and  speculations  that  destroy  the 
serenity  and  peace  of  the  heart  and 
mind. — It  is  in  vain  to  preach  a  doctrine 
of  brotherhood  or  commonwealth,  and 
yet  to  desist  from  the  exercise  of  those 
rights  which  belong  to  community  and 
fellowship. — To  preach  that  all  the 
world  is  a  brotherhood,  and  then  to  act 
as  if  every  man  had  a  right  to  do  as  he 
pleased,  is  simply  to  contradict  preach¬ 
ing  by  practice. — When  man  asks,  Am  I 
my  brother’s  keeper  ?  the  answer  should 
be  a  grand  and  solemn  affirmation. 


“  Choose  you  this  day  whom  ye  will 
serve." — Joshua  xxiv.  15. 

There  is  a  point  at  which  all  religion 
becomes  voluntary. — There  is  a  sense 
in  which  natural  religion  is  not  volun¬ 
tary,  although  there  is  a  strained  sense 
in  which  a  contention  may  be  set  up 
for  its  voluntariness. — The  whole  value 
of  spiritual  religion  consists  in  its 
expressing  the  supreme  desire  of  the 
heart. — An  appeal  is  thus  made  to 
reason,  inasmuch  as  man  is  called  upon 
to  make  a  choice.  To  make  a  choice 
means,  in  other  words,  to  examine,  to 
attach  values,  weigh  one  thing  against 
another,  and  to  pronounce  on  rational 
grounds  for  the  election  of  a  certain 
course  of  conduct. — A  beautiful  union 
of  words  is  here  found,  namely, 
“choose,”  and  “serve.”  Here  is  a 
beautiful  instance  of  voluntary  slavery. — 
There  is  a  service  that  is  merely  of  the 
eye,  regulated  by  selfish  considerations 
and  determined  by  self-indulgence  r 
that  service  is  of  no  account  in  the 
sanctuary  :  it  is  a  vain  oblation,  and  is 
rejected  by  God. — The  apostles  did  not 
hesitate  to  describe  themselves  as  “slaves 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  ”  the  word 
slave  seems  to  mean  more  than  servant, 


and  it  was  after  that  further  and  deeper 
meaning,  that  the  apostles  strained 
themselves  when  they  described  their 
service  as  slavery. — There  is  a  slavery 
of  love. — Love  can  never  rise  too  early, 
or  toil  too  severely,  or  give  too  lavishly  ; 
it  lives  to  give ;  it  lives  to  gratify 
others  ;  its  joy  would  be  taken  away 
if  its  service  could  be  limited. — -In  such 
a  case  as  is  referred  to  in  the  text, 
“  service  ”  must  not  be  taken  as  a 
merely  intellectual  or  ceremonial  rela¬ 
tion, — it  means  downright  hard  work, 
genuine  obedience,  hearty  devotion, 
complete,  unsparing,  and  joyous  conse¬ 
cration. — The  profession  of  religion 
may  be  an  aggravation  of  immorality. — 
To  profess  and  not  to  do  is  to  be  guilty 
of  the  blackest  falsehood. — Great  mis¬ 
takes  about  the  service  of  God  must 
be  cleared  away  :  it  is  a  mistake,  for 
example,  to  suppose  that  we  may  serve 
God  by  singing  hymns,  attending  ser¬ 
vices,  and  patronising  ministers,  when 
in  doing  all  this  we  only  gratify  our 
own  desires  without  exposing  ourselves 
to  a  single  pang  or  loss.  Exercises  of 
this  kind  must  be  taken  as  merely  part 
of  the  great  consecration.  The  beauty 
is  not  the  flower,  nor  is  it  the  fragrance ; 
there  must  be  root-life,  hidden  sources 
of  nutriment,  and  direct  connection  with 
the  sun. — We  cannot  serve  God  if  we 
are  not  living  in  God,  and  God  is  not 
living  in  us.  To  serve  God  is  to  bring 
the  spirit  into  activity  at  every  possible 
point  of  life,  thinking  good,  doing  good, 
and.  where  necessary,  suffering  for  good. 
— The  greatness  of  this  service  may  be 
seen  in  the  fact  that  it  is  always  asso¬ 
ciated  in  Christian  teaching  with  con¬ 
centration. — Jesus  Christ  said,  Ye 
cannot  serve  God  and  mammon,  as  ye 
cannot  be  going  east  and  west  at  the 
same  time.  Here,  therefore,  the  mean¬ 
ing  clearly  is  that  divine  service  means 
undivided  concentration,  complete  and 
absolute  devotion  to  the  will  of  God. — 
In  view  of  this  definition  (a  definition 


“HANDFULS  OF  PURPOSED 


289 


realised  only  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ) 
let  every  man  say  how  far  he  is  worthy 
to  be  called  a  servant  of  the  living  God. 


“  Behold, ,  this  stone  shall  be  a  witness 
zinto  us ;  for  it  hath  heard  all  the 
words  of  the  Lord  which  he  spake 
unto  us.” — Joshua  xxiv.  27. 

This  is  more  than  poetry  ;  this  indeed 
is  the  greatest  of  realities. — We  are 
accustomed  to  regard  nature  as  a  silent 
and  unresponsive  quantity,  but  it  is 
never  so  regarded  in  holy  Scripture. — 
We  cannot  tell  the  relation  of  nature  to 
our  own  spiritual  life.  — There  is  nothing 
secret  that  shall  not  be  revealed  ;  there 
is  nothing  spoken  in  whispers  that  shall 
not  be  repeated  in  thunders.  Who 
cannot  recall  the  places  at  which  certain 
vowrs  were  spoken,  or  memorable 
prayers  were  poured  out  of  the  heart  ? 
The  world  is  full  of  trysting-places, 
altars  of  promise,  fountains  of  aspira¬ 
tion,  sanctuaries  of  vow  and  oath. — 
Every  place  at  which  we  have  kneeled 
will  be  a  witness  against  us.  Every 
time  we  have  handled  the  Bible  we 
have  marked  down  a  witness  either  in 
our  favour  or  against  us. — A  recollection 
of  these  circumstances  would  hallow 
nature  and  give  all  life  a  new  sensitive¬ 
ness. — “  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to 
raise  up  children  unto  Abraham.”  Had 
not  the  children  praised  Christ,  the  very 
stones  would  have  cried  out  against 
them,  and  taken  up  a  song  of  gladness 
in  his  honour. — There  are  places  which 


we  cannot  pass  without  great  memories 
leaping  up  from  them,  and  making  us 
live  our  years  over  again  in  sudden 
agony,  now  of  pain,  now  of  rapture. — 
The  footprints  we  leave  behind  us 
may  be  seen  by  others,  and  may  be  en¬ 
couragements  to  them.  It  is  for  us  to 
say  whether  those  encouragements  shall 
be  found  on  the  upward  road,  crowned 
wdth  heaven,  or  on  the  downward  road, 
at  the  end  of  which  there  is  a  burning 
pit. — A  very  solemn  thought  it  is  that 
we  are  never  really  alone. — Time  and 
space  are  God’s  witnesses,  and  the 
stones  we  accounted  deaf  may  be  alive 
to  hear  every  oath  and  blessing  uttered 
by  our  lives.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to 
live  ! — What  did  you  say  at  the  child's 
grave  ? — What  at  the  wedding  altar  ? — 
What  was  the  meaning  of  the  gift  of  a 
mother’s  Bible  ? — Recall  the  spot  on 
which  a  great  deliverance  was  wrought, 
and  remember  your  many  tears  and 
vows. — How  desolate  the  condition 
of  a  man  against  whom  dumb  nature 
exclaims  ! — The  very  stones  cry  out. — 
Every  harvest  rebukes  spiritual  in¬ 
dolence. — Every  star  puts  to  shame  the 
life  of  darkness. — Every  flower  protests 
against  moral  hideousness. — O  my  soul, 
how  many  have  been  thy  vows,  and  how 
few  thy  fulfilments  !  Wilt  thou  always 
be  a  liar  before  God,  and  always  dare 
the  very  faces  of  nature  to  put  thee  to 
shame  ?  I  will  arise  and  redeem  my 
vows,  and  ask  him  who  is  merciful 
evermore  to  give  me  courage  to  own 
my  cowardice,  and  strength  to  repair 
the  waste  places  of  my  life. 


VOL.  V, 


19 


I  ^ 

EXCURSUS. 


WE  have  now  reached  a  point  in  our  Biblical  studies 
from  which  we  can  look  back  to  see  the  general 
line  of  thought  which  the  inspired  writers  have  pursued. 
As  this  is  distinctively  the  Peoples  Bible,  we  are  entitled 
to  ask  questions  respecting  what  may  be  termed  the 
people’s  religion,  by  which  is  meant  such  a  religion  as 
would  be  understood  by  the  mind  of  the  common  people 
who  have  not  received  specific  or  professional  training 
either  in  theology  or  philosophy.  Given  the  Pentateuch 
and  the  Book  of  Joshua  in  order  to  discover  what  im¬ 
pression  the  popular  mind  would  receive  from  reading 
them  ;  this  is  our  problem,  and  at  this  point  we  are 
prepared  to  make  at  least  a  tentative  reply. 

We  must  always  distinguish  between  the  people  as 
a  whole  and  those  specially  gifted  individuals  who  have 
achieved  great  influence  and  renown  as  powerful  thinkers. 
We  may  judge  either  by  the  many  or  by  the  few  ;  and 
in  a  case  such  as  is  now  before  us  we  are  certainly 
entitled  to  judge  by  the  many,  asking  ourselves  the 
question,  How  will  this  or  that  doctrine  or  revelation 
strike  the  average  mind  ?  Unless  we  keep  in  view  this 
broad  distinction  as  between  the  many  and  the  few,  we 
shall  do  injustice  to  both.  Judging  by  the  many,  we 
might  be  inclined  to  view  with  contempt,  certainly  with 
disesteem,  the  few  who  are  supposed  to  plume  themselves 
on  great  gifts,  and  claim  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  world. 
Nothing  would  be  easier  than  for  the  multitude  to  scorn 


EXCURSUS . 


291 


the  little  clique  or  sect  or  faction  claiming  to  be  all 
but  inspired,  and  asserting  some  kind  of  right  to  rule  the 
general  thinking  of  mankind.  The  common  people  might 
ask  whether  it  is  more  probable  that  a  thousand  men 
should  be  right  than  that  one  man  should  be  right  when 
he  differs  from  them.  A  good  deal  of  supposed  eminence 
might  also  be  traced  to  vanity,  or  set  down  to  some 
inferior  motive.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  just  as  possible 
to  do  injustice  to  the  many  by  unduly  magnifying 
the  gifts  and  rights  of  the  few.  Was  the  revelation  of 
God  made  to  mankind,  or  was  it  made  only  to  a  man 
here  and  there  of  superior  intellectual  capacity  and  force  ? 
Is  the  Bible  intended  to  be  the  Book  of  the  People, 
or  is  it  meant  that  it  should  come  to  the  people 
only  through  the  interpretation  of  priests,  ministers,  or 
scholars  ?  Is  there  not  a  spirit  in  man,  and  doth  not 
the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  give  him  understanding  ? 
Did  not  the  common  people  hear  Jesus  Christ  “gladly”? 
Are  we  not  distinctly  told  again  and  again  that  many 
sacred  mysteries  are  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent, 
and  revealed  unto  babes  ?  Does  not  the  whole  tone  of 
the  Bible  sanction  the  thought  that  the  revelation  made 
by  God  to  man  respecting  the  salvation  of  the  race  is 
made  to  the  humble,  contrite,  penitent,  unassuming,  and 
is  withheld  from  the  princes  of  this  world  ?  It  should  be 
remembered  on  all  sides  of  an  argument  of  this  kind  that 
some  men  have  what  may  be  termed  a  theological  faculty 
or  genius  :  they  have  insight,  a  kind  of  prevision,  a 
comprehensive  glance  as  to  power  of  grouping  details 
and  setting  facts  and  doctrines  in  their  true  perspective  : 
they  may  be  emphatically  termed  theologians,  and  ought 
to  be  duly  respected  as  such  ;  but  it  is  perfectly  evident 
that  Christianity  cannot  come  through  merely  scientific 
theology,  otherwise  the  great  common  world  would  never 
receive  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel,  or  if  it  did  receive 
them  it  would  be  with  such  a  sense  of  obligation  to 
learned  and  gifted  men  as  to  constitute  those  men  into 
a  kind  of  priesthood,  and  offer  to  them,  more  or  less 


29  2 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


consciously,  a  tribute  scarcely  distinguishable  from  idolatry. 
The  theologian  has  a  distinct  function  and  position  of 
his  own  ;  keeping  himself  strictly  to  that  function  and 
position,  he  is  to  be 'consulted  with  the  hope  of  spiritual 
advantage  on  the  part  of  the  inquirer  ;  but  it  must  never 
be  understood  that  the  Gospel  intended  for  the  salvation 
of  the  whole  world  is  entrusted  solely  to  the  custody  of 
men  of  letters,  men  of  metaphysical  genius,  or  men  of 
piercing  insight,  and  can  only  be  received  through  their 
mediation  or  instrumentality.  Between  the  theologian 
and  the  Christian  the  widest  possible  contrast  must  be 
established  :  a  man  may  be  a  profoundly  scientific 
theologian,  and  yet  know  nothing  about  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  man  may  be  imbued  with  the 
very  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  yet  be  totally  unacquainted 
with  the  methods  and  results  of  distinctively  scientific 
theology.  We  cannot  be  too  careful  in  protesting  against 
the  erection  of  preaching  into  some  kind  of  mere  pro¬ 
fession.  It  is  in  this  way  that  priesthoods  are  formed, 
and  that  all  kinds  of  spiritual  tyranny  are  established. 
The  people  must  never  hold  the  idea  that  the  Bible  can 
only  be  understood  by  a  certain  kind  of  men  to  whom 
exceptional  privileges  have  been  granted.  We  must  insist 
that  the  Bible  is  the  people’s  book,  that  it  can  be  under¬ 
stood  by  the  people,  that  there  is  nothing  in  it  necessary 
to  salvation  which  people  cannot  find  out  for  themselves, 
without  the  help  of  priest  or  preacher.  This  is  true 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  this  is  the  proper  exercise 
of  the  right  of  private  judgment.  When  questions  of 
history,  archaeology,  letters,  ancient  civilisations,  or  any 
species  of  criticism  come  up,  then  the  assistance  of 
learned  and  competent  men  is  indispensable  :  but  so  long 
as  the  question  relates  to  the  method  of  reconciliation 
with  God,  and  the  building  up  of  spiritual  and  beneficent 
character,  the  people  must  discuss  and  settle  the  whole 
matter  without  what  may  be  termed,  inoffensively,  pro¬ 
fessional  intervention.  There  is  in  human  nature  a 
strong  tendency  towards  priesthood,  professionalism,  or 


EXCURSUS. 


2  93 


official  superiority.  This  tendency  is  to  be  resisted  as  if  it 
were  one  of  the  most  subtle  and  persistent  temptations. 
The  most  eminent  professor  of  Biblical  learning  would 
do  well  sometimes  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  the  humblest 
disciple.  He  would  be  all  the  better  if  he  could  hear 
some  broken-hearted  man  read  the  Bible  to  him  morning 
by  morning.  The  great  passages  of  the  Bible  are  to  be 
read  through  the  tears  of  sorrow.  Learning  of  a  verbal 
kind  can  do  only  the  very  meanest  sort  of  work  in  the 
house  of  God  ;  a  needful  work  no  doubt,  a  work  by  no 
means  to  be  contemned  when  limited  to  its  proper  scope 
and  uses,  but  the  spirit  of  the  Bible  is  in  the  heart  of 
the  people,  and  by  that  heart  alone  can  that  spirit  be 
fully  and  influentially  revealed. 

Looking  back  upon  the  course  we  have  traversed,  what 
would  be  the  people’s  idea  respecting  the  God  of  the  Bible  ? 
The  metaphysician  might  begin  by  some  analysis  of  the 
elements  or  attributes  of  Godhead,  but  we  are  not  now 
asking  what  the  metaphysician  would  do,  but  rather  what 
would  be  the  impression  of  the  people  regarding  the 
God  of  the  Pentateuch  ?  There  are  two  distinct  ways 
of  entering  upon  the  question  of  the  existence  and 
sovereignty  of  God.  The  metaphysician  has  one  way, 
and  the  non-metaphysician  has  a  way  quite  different. 
We  have  now  to  do  with  the  non-metaphysician — the 
plain,  common,  average  mind  of  the  world.  Let  that 
mind  carefully  go  through  the  Pentateuch,  and  through 
such  portion  of  history  as  is  set  forth  in  the  Book  of 
Joshua,  and  its  impression  must  be  that,  according  to 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  God  is  great,  good,  mysterious 
in  character,  inscrutable  in  purpose,  but  always  revealing 
himself  in  great  acts  of  moral  correction  and  beneficence. 
The  ordinary  reader  might  not  be  able  to  define  with 
anything  like  exhaustiveness  such  terms  as  Omnipotence, 
Eternal,  Jehovah,  and  yet  the  inability  to  give  such 
definition  would  not  prevent  the  mind  entertaining  the 
sublimest  thoughts  of  God’s  nature,  attributes,  and  govern- 


294 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


meat.  We  may  have  carried  this  matter  of  definition 
too  far.  In  all  religious  thinking  there  is  a  point  at 
which  analysis  must  stop,  and  man  must  simply  begin 
to  pray  and  to  wait  patiently  upon  God.  To  this 
of  course  it  will  be  replied  that  the  people  will  insist 
upon  saying,  What  have  we  to  believe  respecting  God  ? 
Who  is  God  ?  But  this  reply  itself  needs  correction. 
The  answer  is  both  Yes  and  No.  How  are  such  matters 
settled  in  practical  life  ?  You  may  as  well  say  that  before 
a  man  who  is  hungry  can  accept  bread  he  is  bound  to 
ask  certain  difficult  questions  respecting  bread, — as,  for 
example,  by  what  process  did  it  grow,  what  chemical 
forces  operated  in  the  production  of  bread,  what  is  the 
relation  of  the  earth  to  the  sun,  of  light  to  water,  and 
what  is  the  secret  or  mystery  of  germination  ?  Now 
whilst  it  might  be  most  interesting  to  answer  all  these 
questions,  the  answer  to  them  is  not  at  all  necessary  to 
the  appropriation  of  the  bread  which  is  offered.  There 
is  no  violence  in  the  suggestion  that  he  who  accepts 
bread  without  inquiring  into  all  the  chemical  or  other 
questions  which  relate  to  the  mystery  of  germination  or 
growth,  acts  upon  faith  rather  than  upon  reason  ;  his 
reason  is  not  at  all  satisfied  simply  because  he  knows 
nothing  whatever  regarding  the  processes  which  took 
place  in  the  production  of  bread.  Nor  is  the  analogy 
to  be  thrown  out  simply  because  it  does  not  cover  the 
whole  ground  ;  it  covers  ground  enough  for  our  im¬ 
mediate  purpose,  when  it  shows  that  in  practical  matters 
men  are  content  to  act  in  a  practical  way.  We  contend 
that  there  is  no  matter  more  practical  than  the  moral 
settlement  of  the  mind,  the  purification  of  motive,  the 
acceptance  of  divine  blessings,  ending  in  reconciliation 
with  God,  a  beneficent  life,  and  sure  hope  of  heaven.  We 
must  insist  that  these  questions  are  themselves  practical  ; 
for,  the  moment  we  allow  them  to  be  taken  out  of 
practical  relations,  they  become  merely  speculative,  and 
can  only  be  treated  as  so  many  high  conjectures  to  which 
there  is  no  definite  answer.  The  people  cannot  read  the 


EXCURSUS. 


295 


portion  of  Scripture  through  which  we  have  come  without 
feeling  that  the  existence  of  God  is  everywhere  recognised  ; 
is,  indeed,  assumed  as  the  one  all-ruling  fact  of  the 
history  ;  is  not  brought  up  for  discussion  or  consideration, 
but  is  set  down  as  the  unit  without  which  all  processes 
of  calculation  would  be  simply  impossible.  The  mind, 
therefore,  might  accept  God  as  the  Bible  accepts  him. 
He  is  there  assumed,  taken  for  granted  ;  not  a  step  is 
taken  except  under  the  distinct  conviction  and  happy 
consciousness  of  the  presence  and  rule  of  God  in  human 
life.  Because  we  begin  at  this  point  it  does  not  follow 
that  we  may  end  there.  Experience  itself  will  become 
a  means  of  education,  and  as  we  proceed  in  our  spiritual 
reading  and  Christian  education  we  may  be  able  to  form 
higher  and  clearer  conceptions  of  the  divine  existence 
and  character,  and  so  may  be  enabled  to  create  a  kind 
of  theology  of  our  own.  But  the  point  to  be  observed 
is  that  all  this  is  after-growth,  and  is  not  at  all  necessary 
to  the  formation  of  a  really  religious  character.  Because 
metaphysical  questions  can  be  asked,  it  does  not  follow 
that  it  is  necessary  to  answer  them.  There  is  no  mental 
exercise  that  does  not  admit  of  severe  metaphysical  cross- 
examination.  If  we  did  not  act  in  common  life  until  we 
were  able  to  answer  all  the  metaphysical  questions  that 
could  be  raised  concerning  it,  we  should  never  act  at  all. 
What  is  will  ?  What  is  the  origin  of  ideas  ?  What 
is  the  scope  of  volition  ?  What  is  the  final  meaning  ot 
responsibility  ?  What  is  the  exact  moral  relation  of  one 
man  to  another  ?  All  these  questions,  and  many  more, 
instantly  present  themselves  when  any  undertaking  is  pro¬ 
posed,  and  if  we  were  not  to  move  until  they  were  finally 
settled,  we  should  never  move  at  all.  The  suggestion, 
therefore,  that  men  will  ask  certain  questions  respecting 
God,  and  that  we  ought  to  be  prepared  to  answer  them, 
falls  to  the  ground,  if  there  is  any  force  in  analogy.  We 
must  ask  men  to  be  as  reasonable  in  the  higher  things 
of  life  as  in  the  lower,  and  to  adopt  certain  working 
principles  in  order  to  find  the  way  even  to  their  prior 


2g6 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE 


or  ulterior  Intent  and  purpose.  In  adopting  this  course 
of  inquiry  and  reasoning,  the  mind  will  be  strongly 
supported  by  reflecting  upon  the  kind  of  character  which 
is  thereby  produced.  Accepting  God, — that  is  to  say,  the 
fact  of  his  existence,  the  certainty  of  his  government, 
and  the  reality  of  his  judgment  of  human  conduct, — 
what  is  the  kind  of  character  produced  by  this  recog¬ 
nition  ?  We  contend  that  the  kind  of  character  so 
produced  is  of  the  highest  quality,  ennobled  by  veneration, 
purified  at  the  very  fountain  of  its  motive,  and  ruled  by 
considerations  which  involve  the  claims,  rights,  and  highest 
interests  of  other  men.  If  a  non-metaphysical  acceptance 
of  God  ended  in  looseness  or  frivolity  of  character,  such  an 
ending  would  be  a  powerful  answer  to  the  argumentative 
contention  ;  but  when  facts  all  tend  the  other  way — 
namely,  to  show  that  even  where  there  is  no  metaphysical 
genius  there  may  be  thorough  acceptance  of  the  idea  of 
the  divine  personality  and  rule,  and  profoundly  religious 
character  and  feeling — the  whole  aspect  of  the  argument 
is  changed.  Now  up  to  this  point  in  the  Bible  we  have 
not  had  to  deal  with  metaphysicians,  philosophers,  theo¬ 
logians,  as  these  terms  are  now  understood,  but  we  have 
had  to  deal  with  many  noble  and  righteous  men,  whose 
examples  may  be  safely  held  up  for  imitation  in  all  lands 
and  all  ages.  They  lived  in  God  ;  they  moved  and  had 
their  being  in  him  ;  some  of  them  “  walked  with  God,” 
and  some  of  them  were  hardly  distinguishable  from  the 
very  purest  examples  of  piety  which  even  Christian  history 
affords.  The  people,  then,  may  well  come  to  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  in  the  portion  of  the  Bible  which  we  now 
close,  there  is  certainly  the  revelation  of  a  creating,  sus¬ 
taining,  and  directing  God — mighty,  merciful,  good,  and 
gracious  ;  having  sympathy  with  men,  pitying  their  in¬ 
firmities,  burning  with  anger  against  their  sins,  and  yet 
in  the  very  midst  of  his  moral  indignation  seeking  their 
redemption  and  restoration. 

What  would  be  the  idea  of  the  people  with  regard  to 


EXCURSUS. 


297 


the  Providence  which  is  revealed  in  the  Bible  up  to  this 
point  ?  We  need  not  enter  upon  minute  questions  re¬ 
garding  government,  relationships  between  the  Governor 
and  the  governed,  as  involving  nice  questions  of  moral 
obligation  ;  we  have  simply  to  ask,  What  would  be  the 
impression  produced  upon  the  ordinary  mind  by  the 
perusal  of  so  much  of  the  Scriptures  as  we  have  now 
studied  ?  Is  there  anything  like  shape  or  form  in  all 
the  history  that  has  passed  before  us  ?  Is  there  any¬ 
where  a  disclosure  of  a  distinct  purpose  in  divine  rule  ? 
Have  things  but  moved  from  one  chaos  to  another, 
aggravating  the  tumult  and  confusion  as  they  have 
passed  from  phase  to  phase  ?  Has  there  been  at  all  events 
the  recognition  of  a  Power  which  could  raise  up  and  put 
down  ;  which  could  punish  sin  and  reward  righteousness  ; 
which  could  bind  kings  and  princes  and  give  authority 
to  those  who  were  previously  without  name  ?  Is  there 
anywhere  in  all  this  portion  of  Scripture  a  sense  of  cen¬ 
tralisation,  supremacy,  authority  ?  Is  there  at  least  the 
shadow  of  a  throne,  high  and  mighty,  above  all  the  affairs 
of  men  ?  I  cannot  but  feel,  in  coming  along  all  this  open 
Biblical  road,  that  everywhere  we  have  been  confronted 
by  the  gracious  presence  of  an  overruling  Providence. 
The  pages  have  been  full  of  happy  inspiration.  True, 
we  have  had  mystery  upon  mystery,  one  darkening  upon 
the  other  like  sevenfold  night,  but  again  and  again  we 
have  had  occasion  to  exclaim,  Though  “  clouds  and  dark¬ 
ness  are  round  about  him,  righteousness  and  judgment  are 
the  habitation  of  his  throne.”  Curiously  enough,  we  have 
seen  deliverance  come  both  unexpectedly  and  suddenly, 
but  with  a  certainty  which  no  human,  power  could  set 
aside.  At  the  very  point  where  we  expected  evil  to 
triumph  permanently,  we  have  seen  the  light  strike  the 
evil  one,  and  day  displace  all  the  horrors  of  night.  We 
hold  these  to  be  simple  matters  of  fact.  They  have 
ample  correspondence  and  confirmation  in  our  own  con¬ 
sciousness  and  experience.  We  cannot  account  for  these 
things  ;  all  things  seem  to  be  entangled  one  within  the 


2q  8 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


other,  and  hope  of  reconciliation  or  harmony  there 
appears  to  be  none  ;  the  enemy  is  at  the  very  door,  and 
the  hour  of  destruction  has  already  come :  yet  in  a 
moment  deliverance  has  been  wrought,  and  that  which 
was  dark  and  frowning  has  become  bright,  smiling,  and 
hopeful.  The  common  people  can  understand  these 
things  when  they  cannot  enter  into  the  mysteries  of 
government,  rulership,  and  moral  relations  of  developing 
and  sometimes  apparently  contending  degrees.  The  thing 
to  be  kept  in  mind  is  what  the  people  as  such  can 
understand,  and  never  to  tempt  them  away  into  fields 
of  mere  speculation  and  conjecture,  where,  because  of 
want  of  adequate  mental  training,  they  would  be  sure 
to  fall  into  deeper  and  deeper  confusion.  The  people  as 
such  must  be  encouraged  to  stand  upon  solid  ground, 
upon  the  facts  which  they  themselves  have  known,  seen, 
and  handled  ;  and  how  tempting  soever  it  may  be  to 
proceed  from  these  solid  rocks  into  the  upper  air  of 
question-asking  and  speculation,  the  people  must  be  ex¬ 
horted  to  stand  within  the  lines  which  they  themselves 
have  proved,  for  only  within  those  limits  have  they 
adequate  answer  to  the  assaults  of  the  enemy.  Some 
men  may  pass  beyond  those  lines.  Here  it  is  that  we 
must  always  make  room  for  the  highly-qualified  theo¬ 
logian  or  metaphysician.  He  is  of  unspeakable  use,  as 
we  have  again  and  again  allowed,  so  long  as  he  keeps 
within  his  proper  sphere,  but  he  must  not  sneer  at  the 
common  people  because  they  cannot  philosophise,  neither 
must  the  common  people  sneer  at  him  because  he  sees 
higher  heights  than  they  themselves  have  yet  beheld. 
The  common  man  and  the  uncommon  thinker  belong 
to  one  another,  are  mutually  complementary,  and  there¬ 
fore  they  must  hold  one  another  in  mutual  honour. 

Another  interesting  inquiry  would  relate  to  the  concep¬ 
tion  of  the  common  people  as  to  the  matter  of  Inspiration, 
so  far  as  our  studies  have  proceeded.  Theories  of  in¬ 
spiration  have  always  been  rife  enough  in  the  Church. 


EXCURSUS. 


299 


Our  contention  is  that  the  people  as  such  really  cannot 
settle  questions  of  inspiration,  nor  ought  they  to  attempt 
their  consideration.  Not  only  are  the  people  unable  to 
settle  the  great  question  of  inspiration,  but  even  the  most 
learned  and  gifted  professors  and  teachers  have  not  come 
to  common  ground  on  the  question  themselves.  What 
the  common  people  can  do  with  regard  to  the  matter  of 
inspiration  is  to  discover  the  moral  tone  and  purpose  of 
the  Book  which,  claims  to  be  inspired.  They  can  put  to 
themselves  the  great  question,  What  is  the  moral  teaching 
of  this  book  ?  What  kind  of  character  is  this  book 
designed  to  create  and  foster  ?  What  is  the  quality  of 
the  righteousness  on  which  this  book  insists  ?  Is  this  a 
book  which  is  satisfied  with  expediency,  training,  com¬ 
promise,  or  being  right  on  the  whole  or  in  general  ? 
He  would  be  an  unwise  teacher  who  denied  that  there 
are  difficulties  in  the  Pentateuch  which  even  scholars 
cannot  settle.  Let  us  allow  that  there  are  discrepancies 
as  to  dates  and  events  in  the  Pentateuch  and  in  the  his¬ 
torical  books  ;  let  us  admit  that  there  are  many  questions 
on  which  no  light  can  be  thrown  ;  it  would  be  most 
unwise  to  rest  the  question  of  inspiration  or  non-inspira¬ 
tion  upon  such  circumstances.  The  importance  of  these 
questions  is  not  for  a  moment  to  be  denied,  but  they  are 
not  to  be  regarded  as  taking  rank  with  the  highest  moral 
inquiry  and  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  book.  The  heart 
can  ^lways  tell  what  words  are  inspired  when  they  address 
themselves  to  the  moral  nature.  There  is  not  a  soul  that 
would  not  revolt  at  the  idea  that  a  command  to  do  wrong 
was  inspired.  Not  a  man  would  rise  to  uphold  com¬ 
mandments  contrary  in  spirit  to  the  ten  which  constitute 
the  law.  Were  a  man  to  arise  and  say,  The  eighth  com¬ 
mandment  ought  to  be  read,  “  Thou  shalt  steal,”  he  would 
instantly  be  put  down  by  the  common  voice  of  civilised 
humanity  ;  it  would  be  felt  that  such  a  doctrine  aimed  at 
the  very  constitution  of  life  in  all  its  social  and  dependent 
relations.  Now  whilst  there  are  definite  lines  upon  which 
the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  can  be  tested,  it  may  be  quite 


300 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


enough  for  the  common  people — that  is,  for  the  people  as 
a  whole — to  rest  upon  those  lines,  and  not  to  trouble 
themselves  with  the  remoter  questions  wffiich  even  the 
most  learned  men  cannot  adjust.  No  fault  need  be  found 
with  the  teachers  who  insist  that  the  word  of  God  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Bible,  as  against  the  theory  that  the  Bible 
is  itself  the  word  of  God.  Considerable  controversy  has 
arisen  respecting  this  distinction.  Let  us  understand  what 
it  is  :  one  teacher  says  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God  ; 
another  teacher  says  the  word  of  God  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Bible.  In  the  first  case  the  man  undertakes  to  uphold 
the  doctrine  of  what  is  termed  plenary  or  verbal  inspira¬ 
tion  :  he  will  have  it  that  every  letter  is  inspired,  that 
every  word  is  sacred  ;  in  short,  that  there  is  nothing  what¬ 
ever,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Bible  to  the  end,  that  is 
not  immediately  and  absolutely  inspired  and  directed  by 
God.  The  other  teacher  maintains  that  this  is  by  no 
means  the  case,  and  that  it  is  not  necessary  that  it  should 
be  the  case  in  order  to  prove  that  the  Bible  is  a  divine 
revelation  :  he  insists  that  the  moral  character  of  the  Bible 
is  the  best  proof  of  its  being  inspired  ;  he  looks  upon 
all  matters  of  astronomy,  geology,  military  history,  local 
movement,  popular  rumour,  as  being  merely  literary,  and’ 
as  being  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  knowledge  and 
temper  of  the  times  ;  in  all  these  departments  he  is  pre¬ 
pared  to  find  literal  discrepancy,  or  to  be  confronted  with 
considerable  difficulty  of  many  kinds  ;  but  he  contends 
that,  apart  altogether  from  these  incidents  and  details,  there 
is  in  the  Bible  an  authoritative  revelation  of  righteousness, 
truth,  and  peace  to  the  whole  world.  The  inspiration, 
therefore,  for  which  the  second  teacher  would  contend 
may  be  termed  moral  as  apart  from  literal  inspiration  :  he 
maintains  that  there  is  no  difficulty  whatever  in  ascer¬ 
taining  the  real  moral  character  of  the  book,  and  upon 
that  real  moral  character  he  establishes  his  claim  that  the 
Bible  is  inspired  and  has  become  possible  as  a  book  only 
because  of  direct  divine  intervention.  It  is  not  in  our 
power  to  settle  these  contending  claims.  But  what  is 


EXCURSUS. 


301 


there  to  find  fault  with  in  the  claim  of  the  man  who 
insists  that  from  beginning  to  end  the  God  of  the  Bible 
requires  of  man  that  he  walk  justly,  love  mercy,  and  put 
his  daily  trust  in  God,  looking  to  none  other  for  direction, 
instruction,  and  judgment  ?  We  continually  insist  that 
even  in  the  parables  of  Christ  the  local  incident  or  colour¬ 
ing  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  parable  : 
in  effect  we  contend  that  the  truth  is  within  the  parable  ; 
in  other  words,  that  the  parable  is  within  the  parable,  and 
that  we  must  reach  the  kernel  if  we  would  understand  the 
speaker’s  meaning.  The  teachers  to  whom  reference  is 
now  made  make  the  same  contention  with  regard  to  the 
Bible  :  they  say  that  the  Bible  is  within  the  Bible  :  they 
say  that  the  Bible  contains  incident,  colouring,  and  detail 
of  many  kinds  which  really  have  no  essential  or  vital 
bearing  upon  the  supreme  purpose  of  the  book  itself : 
they  are  thus  enabled  further  to  maintain  that  whatever 
may  be  said  regarding  the  merely  external  circumstances 
associated  with  the  development  of  the  Bible,  its  central 
purpose  remains  inviolate  and  inviolable  :  from  their  point 
of  view  the  Bible  contains  the  very  law  of  God,  respecting 
which  there  can  be  no  dispute,  as  to  its  sublime  morality 
or  profound  and  glorious  character.  Probably  the  common 
people  would  be  prepared  to  adopt  this  view  without 
saying  anything  at  all  respecting  the  other,  simply  because 
they  are  not  qualified  to  discuss  the  other  with  adequate 
information  and  ability.  A  great  point,  however,  is  gained 
when  any  man  is  drawn  to  confess  that  the  Bible  contains 
and  reveals  the  whole  counsel  of  God  regarding  human 
character  and  human  responsibility.  It  is  of  infinitely 
greater  importance  to  establish  this  doctrine  than  to  estab¬ 
lish  any  other  within  the  whole  sphere  covered  by  the 
term  Inspiration.  The  one  sphere  does  not  indeed  neces¬ 
sarily  exclude  the  other,  nor  does  the  one  sphere  necessarily 
include  the  other.  A  man  may  be  perfectly  orthodox, 
and  say  that  he  is  altogether  unable  to  settle  the  conten¬ 
tions  of  doctors  and  critics  regarding  inspiration,  but  for 
himself  he  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  however  much 


3°2 


1HE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


may  be  taken  out  of  the  Bible,  its  moral  integrity  is  left 
unimpaired,  it  enshrines  the  very  wisdom  of  God,  and 
reveals  the  only  conditions  upon  which  man  can  walk 
acceptably  with  his  Maker. 

On  these  three  questions  of  Godhead,  Providence,  and 
Inspiration,  the  people  may  up  to  this  point  be  able  to 
form  distinct  and  profitable  opinions  for  themselves.  My 
exhortation  must  continually  be,  Prove  all  things  ;  never 
allow  the  priest  to  dispossess  you  of  your  right  of  private 
judgment  ;  read  the  book  thoroughly  from  end  to  end,  and 
believe  that  Almighty  God  never  sent  a  message  to  the 
human  race  which  could  be  understood  only  by  a  portion 
of  that  race — that  whatever  the  great  Father  of  us  all  has 
sent  to  the  human  family  he  has  sent  in  language  which 
cannot  be  misunderstood  except  by  the  perversity  and 
selfishness  of  man.  Wherever  we  come  upon  any  mystery 
which  is  intended  to  interfere  with  the  development  of 
moral  character,  we  may  be  sure  that  that  mystery  is  an 
invention  of  priestcraft,  and  ought  to  be  blown  away  with 
indignation  and  horror.  Great  and  awful  mysteries  of 
another  kind  there  must  always  be.  Who  can  find  out 
the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ?  Who  can  lay  a  line  upon 
*  Eternity  and  say,  This  is  the  measure  thereof,  and  such 
and  such  number  of  days  exhaust  the  meaning  of  eternal 
duration  ?  Again  and  again  we  must  stand  back  in 
wonder  and  awe,  not  knowing  where  we  are  or  what  events 
are  challenging  our  imagination.  But  apart  from  all  these 
mysteries,  speculations,  conjectures,  hypotheses,  there  are 
great  solid  rocks  of  history,  fact,  experience,  upon  which 
all  men  can  stand,  and  where  they  can  wait  as  in  a 
sanctuary  for  the  further  revelation  of  God’s  kingdom. 
How  foolish  would  that  man  be  regarded  in  common  life 
who  would  not  build  upon  a  rock  because  other  men  have 
attempted  to  build  upon  a  quaking  bog  !  Look  at  your 
own  life,  its  form,  its  progress,  its  gradual  uplifting  and 
purification,  and  say  if  within  that  boundary  you  have 
not  encouragement  enough  to  pray  and  hope  and  serve  to 


EXCURSUS. 


303 


the  end.  Religion  without  mystery  would  be  incomplete 
religion,  and  would  soon  become  the  merest  amusement 
of  frivolous  minds.  All  through  the  line  we  have 
traversed  God  has  kept  certain  reasons  to  himself  with¬ 
out  the  faintest  hint  of  revelation.  He  did  not  explain 
to  Adam  why  one  tree  was  forbidden.  He  did  not  tell 
why  one  sacrifice  was  accepted  and  another  rejected.  In 
the  wilderness  he  gave  symbols  which  never  fully  con¬ 
veyed  the  meaning  of  the  thing  signified.  Even  when 
he  communed  with  man  it  was  through  the  medium  of 
a  chosen  servant,  and  not  promiscuously  to  the  multi¬ 
tude.  But  whilst  there  have  been  inscrutable  mysteries, 
have  there  not  also  been  countless  mercies  ?  To  the 
mercies  we  must  recur  with  thankful  hearts  when  the 
mysteries  dazzle  and  bewilder  our  helpless  Reason.  The 
beasts  of  the  field  shall  teach  us.  The  rocks  shall  be  full 
of  suggestion.  The  stars  shall  shed  down  their  gospel 
of  light.  Our  own  home-life  shall  witness  gratefully  to 
the  goodness  of  God.  Thus,  whilst  the  mysteries  hide 
themselves  in  light  unapproachable,  the  mercies  shall  sing 
to  us  by  day  and  night,  and  be  unto  us  as  glad  promises 
of  still  better  things  to  come. 


JUDGES 


This  book  abounds  in  human  character,  and  thus  differs  very  happily  from 
the  books  of  ritual  through  which  we  have  just  passed.  Innumerable  men 
come  and  go  on  this  busy  stage,  each  leaving  a  distinct  impress  on  the  memory, 
even  the  humblest  having  some  touch  of  distinction  which  gives  him  im¬ 
portance.  Think  of  Ehud  the  ambidexter,  Shamgar  the  wielder  of  rough 
weapons,  Deborah  the  mother  in  Israel,  Barak  woman-led,  Gideon  so  majestic 
in  self-control  and  patient  simplicity,  of  Abimelech  the  hateful  self-seeker, 
Jotham  the  father  of  fabulists,  Jephthah  despised  yet  crowned,  Manoah 
domestic  and  melancholy,  his  wife  quick  at  spiritual  interpretation,  Samson 
an  elephant  in  strength  a  babe  in  weakness,  Micah  the  priest,  and  Benjamin 
dissolute  yet  missed  and  lamented.  Then  there  are  innumerable  little  names, 
glittering  like  asteroids  on  that  distant  sky,  as  Othniel  and  Heber,  Sisera 
and  Jael,  Tolah  and  Jair,  the  woman  who  stunned  Abimelech  with  a  mill¬ 
stone,  and  the  old  man  who  came  out  of  the  field  at  eventide  and  blessed  the 
wa}Tarers.  A  book  abounding  in  character  truly!  History,  Romance,  Song, 
War,  Tumult,  gather  in  this  array,  and  it  is  our  business  to  observe  and 
ponder,  consider  and  learn  what  we  can.  The  study  of  this  book  has  been 
most  profitable  to  my  own  mind,  as  a  study  of  human  nature  under  conditions 
which  severely  test  it  at  every  point,  and  also  a  study  of  that  spiritual  and 
mysterious  action  which  we  justly  name  Providence.  Though  the  tumult  is 
great  the  central  line  never  changes.  An  unseen  but  mighty  Hand  guides 
the  tremendous  storm,  and  is  never  more  evident  as  to  omnipotence  than 
when  the  history  is  most  confused  and  bewildering.  How  many  are  the 
servants  of  Jehovah,  and  how  various  in  faculty,  disposition,  and  capacity! 
Who  could  hold  them  together  in  one  happy  service  but  the  Lord  God  omni¬ 
potent  ?  This  consideration  opens  up  the  whole  subject  of  the  Providence 
which  governs  and  unites  the  infinite  mass  which  we  call  Society.  Think  of 
it  as  a  Society  that  has  been  kept  together  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
years  and  yet  has  always  seemed  to  be  upon  the  point  of  dissolution  ! 
Always  about  to  be  dissolved  yet  never  dissolving.  The  dispute  never  ceases ; 
collision  and  contention  occur  every  moment;  yet  in  the  midst  of  continual 
contention  there  is  continual  progress.  Society  has  come  again  and  again  to 


VOL.  V. 


20 


306 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


the  point  of  ruin,  yet  it  has  always  escaped  the  last  peril  ;  again  and  again 
Might  has  seemed  to  have  Right  utterly  in  its  power,  yet  the  Right  has  thriven 
in  adversity,  and  clothed  itself  with  new  beauty  even  in  the  fire  ;  in  a  word, 
human  history  is  a  constant  crisis,  yet  it  never  reaches  the  point  of  extinction. 
Society  is  marked  by  the  widest  contrasts,  such  as  master  and  servant,  rich 
and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant,  refined  and  vulgar ;  and  the  moral  distinc¬ 
tions  are  endless, — you  have  every  variety  of  temper,  purpose,  desire, 
sensibility,  and  service ;  you  have  the  brave  and  the  timid,  the  generous  and 
the  mean,  the  unsuspecting  and  the  distrustful,  the  man  who  faces  the  world 
with  high  courage,  and  the  coward  who  shrinks  in  darkness ;  you  have  the 
earnest  soul  who  prays  for  his  race  like  an  intercessor,  and  near  him  (or  born 
of  the  same  mother)  one  to  whom  the  light  gives  pain.  The  nursery  is  full  of 
infant  life,  and  the  hillside  alive  with  childish  movement  and  glee,  and  on  the 
other  side  of  the  same  hill  you  have  the  dying  child,  the  good  man  sighing 
for  home,  and  the  bad  man  ending  a  wild  day  in  a  wilder  night.  Look 
abroad  still.  Yonder  are  the  blind,  who'know  only  of  morning  by  hearsay; 
the  dumb,  the  imbecile,  the  mad,  and  on  and  on  the  exciting  panorama 
stretches  and  palpitates,  until  the  eye  is  tired  by  the  endless  spectacle. 
Realise,  as  far  as  you  can,  all  distances,  differences,  contrasts,  and  antagonisms, 
and  then  ask,  How  can  all  this  be  accounted  for? 

I  hold  that  this  is  as  purely  a  matter  of  scientific  interest  as  the  formation 
of  rocks  or  the  distribution  of  plants.  I  am  interested  in  social  man  as  much 
as  the  naturalist  is  interested  in  physical  man. 

This  in  passing.  Now  look  at  your  own  individual  life,  and  thus  bring 
the  mystery  nearer  home.  You  had  no  control  over  your  birth.  You  had 
no  control  over  your  constitution.  You  come  into  a  world  and  assume 
responsibilities  of  the  most  appalling  magnitude.  You  come  in  a  helpless 
infant,  you  go  out  either  to  heaven  or  to  hell.  You  learn,  you  work,  you 
suffer;  you  fight,  and  lose  the  battle;  you  run,  and  lose  the  race  ;  you  are 
just  going  to  drink  the  cup  of  joy,  and  behold  it  is  thrown  out  of  your 
hand ;  the  child  that  is  to  be  your  mainstay  and  comfort  dies  first ;  the  man 
who  never  prays  succeeds  in  this  world  better  than  you,  though  you  pray 
seven  times  a  day.  You  cannot  get  a  footing  anywhere.  The  rock  melts 
into  water  the  moment  you  touch  it,  and  the  water  becomes  a  rock  again 
when  some  other  man  puts  his  foot  upon  it.  You  are  confounded,  bewildered, 
lost. 

Now  account  for  all  this.  Suppose  we  say  that  it  is  all  a  matter  of 
chance,  would  that  satisfy  any  thinking,  reasonable  man  ?  Look  how  the 
suggestion  degrades  us !  It  contradicts  the  very  instincts  that  make  us 
human.  Have  we  not  power  to  protect  ourselves  against  chance?  We 
protect  ourselves  against  infection,  and  against  fire  and  water ;  we  build 
bridges,  lay  telegraphs,  and  do  all  manner  of  wonderful  things  :  how  is  it  that 


JUDGES. 


3o; 


we  cannot  overcome  so  contemptible  an  agent  as  chance?  Why  do  we  not 
assemble  in  solemn  congress  and  get  the  upper  hand  of  a  power  that  makes 
everything  else  so  uncertain  ?  If  we  could  bring  chance  under  our  control 
nine-tenths  of  our  troubles  would  be  at  an  end. 

Suppose  we  say  that  it  is  the  operation  of  the  law  of  averages,  we  have 
only  used  a  long  word  for  a  short  one,  for  after  all  it  comes  back  to 
chance  put  down  in  figures.  Is  any  sensible  man  really  satisfied  with  that 
explanation  ?  Is  it  enough  for  me,  looking  at  my  disappointments  and 
losses,  my  trials  and  griefs,  my  heart-breaks  and  temptations,  to  say  that 
they  all  fall  under  the  law  of  averages  ?  We  feel  that  the  answer  is 
insufficient.  It  does  not  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter.  It  is  a  reply  that 
would  be  put  down  in  politics  as  a  fool’s  answer,  and  that  would  be 
regarded  in  business  as  the  road  to  bankruptcy.  How,  then,  to  account 
for  the  facts?  Suppose  that  it  should  be  suggested  that  above  all  and 
around  all  there  is  an  Almighty  Providence,  that  all  things  are  naked  and 
opened  unto  the  eyes  of  him  with  whom  we  have  to  do  ?  Does  not  the 
heart  leap  at  that  suggestion  and  say  it  is  true  ? 

I  accept  the  doctrine  of  Providence  not  because  I  am  told  to  do  so  without 
any  reason  being  given,  but  because  the  facts  of  my  own  daily  life  make 
such  a  doctrine  essential ;  they  demand  it ;  they  fall  to  pieces  without  it ; 
they  are  lifted  up  into  coherence  and  meaning  and  expectation  by  it. 

Observe  how  this  method  of  reasoning  operates.  If  you  start  from  the 
point  which  says,  There  is  a  Providence,  go  and  find  it;  you  will  meet  with 
many  things  in  the  course  of  your  study  which  will  appear  to  contradict  and 
destroy  the  theory,  and  because  you  have  started  to  prove  a  theory  the 
difficulties  will  be  all  the  greater.  But  if  you  begin  at  the  point  which  says, 
There  is  human  history  with  all  its  ups  and  downs,  its  ambitions  and  limita¬ 
tions,  its  ebbings  and  flowings,  go  and  account  for  it,  you  will  be  compelled  to 
attribute  it  to  chance  or  to  Providence,  and  I  leave  it  to  any  sensible  man 
to  say  which  is  the  more  probable,  not  to  say  the  more  satisfactory,  solution. 

If  we  say  chance,  the  answer  not  only  insults  our  intellectual  dignity,  it 
positively  contradicts  and  stultifies  itself,  for  the  chance  which  is  so  regular, 
so  consistent,  so  uniform,  that  in  many  departments  of  life  it  can  be  made 
the  basis  of  arithmetical  calculation,  pfoves  that  it  is  no  chance  at  all.  Chance 
is  capricious.  Chance  is  unmanageable.  Chance  is  treacherous.  If  chance 
has  become  law,  law  is  no  chance,  and  it  has  to  be  shown  how  chance 
chanced  to  become  law,  and  how  having  become  law  it  has  lost  the  chance 
of  becoming  chance  again.  No,  no.  The  theory  of  chance  is  absurd  and 
untenable.  But  if  we  make  Providence  our  answer  we  still  have  to  face 
the  many  difficulties  of  human  history;  children  die;  good  men  suffer;  bad 
men  prosper ;  the  scroll  in  the  hand  of  pensive  Time  is  written  all  over  with 
mourning,  lamentation,  and  woe.  Let  us  now  note  the  action. 


Judges  i.  7. 

“As  I  have  done,  so  God  hath  requited  me.” 


ADONI-BEZEK. 

THESE  words  were  uttered  by  Adoni-bezek  (king  of  Bezek). 

He  had  conquered  seven  of  the  little  kingdoms  in  and 
around  Palestine,  and  he  showed  their  kings  the  rough  hospitality 
of  cutting  off  their  thumbs  and  their  great  toes,  and  of  allowing 
them  to  gather  their  meat  under  his  table.  In  due  time,  however, 
Judah,  who  succeeded  Joshua  in  the  leadership,  went  up  to  do  the 
Lord’s  work  and  took  with  him  Simeon  that  they  might  fight 
against  the  Canaanites.  In  Bezek  they  slew  ten  thousand  men. 
There  they  found  the  king,  and  they  fought  against  him,  and 
when  he  fled  they  pursued  after  him  and  caught  him  and  cut  oft 
his  thumbs  and  his  great  toes.  “  And  Adoni-bezek  said,  Three¬ 
score  and  ten  kings,  having  their  thumbs  and  their  great  toes  cut 
off,  gathered  their  meat  under  my  table  :  as  I  have  done,  so  God 
hath  requited  me.”  This  fact  is  an  illustration  of  a  severe  yet 
most  holy  law.  “  The  Lord  God  of  recompenses  shall  surely 
requite.”  Nor  was  this  an  ancient  law  only;  it  was  repeated  by 
Jesus  Christ  himself:  “With  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be 
measured  to  you  again.”  The  same  doctrine  was  laid  down  by 
the  Apostles  :  “  He  shall  have  judgment  without  mercy,  that  hath 
shewed  no  mercy.”  Adoni-bezek  shows  his  wisdom  in  making 
this  comment  upon  his  own  suffering.  Though  he  was  a  tyrant 
yet  he  was  not  a  fool.  The  difficulty  of  the  spiritual  teacher  is 
with  heedless  men ;  all  other  difficulties  may  be  subdued  or  even 
turned  to  advantage,  but  heedlessness,  inattentiveness,  careless¬ 
ness,  who  can  overcome  ? 

Set  it  down  as  a  central  and  abiding  truth  that  wrong-doers 
cannot  escape  divine  judgment.  “  Be  not  deceived ;  God  is  not 
mocked:  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.” 
A  man  may  deny  this  ;  he  may  theoretically  disregard  it ;  but  all 


Judg.  i.  7.] 


A  D  ONI-BEZEK. 


309 


history  shows  that  he  cannot  escape  it.  At  the  heart  of  things  is 
the  spirit  of  judgment.  Life  appears  to  be  confused,  but  before 
the  Almighty  it  has  shape  and  plan  and  purpose.  God  overtakes 
a  man  at  the  last,  and  comes  before  him  with  such  vividness  of 
action  as  to  constrain  the  man  himself  to  admit  that  the  punish¬ 
ment  is  divine  and  not  human.  There  is  an  answering  voice  in 
-  the  human  heart.  When  a  man  is  suffering  from  any  amputation 
whatsoever,  either  physical  or  social,  either  ecclesiastical  or  com¬ 
mercial,  let  him  profoundly  reflect  upon  the  whole  case  and 
scourge  his  memory  so  that  nothing  may  be  omitted  from  the 
review,  and  he  will  find  that  there  is  a  marvellous  law  in  life 
whose  watchword  is  :  “  Breach  for  breach,  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for 
tooth  ”  !  “  As  thy  sword  hath  made  women  childless,  so  shall 

thy  mother  be  childless  among  women.”  Only  the  fool  can  be 
satisfied  by  tracing  his  punishments  to  ill-luck. 

Seeing  that  there  is  this  law  of  punishment  or  requital  in  con¬ 
stant  operation,  no  man  should  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands. 
That  is  the  most  pitiful  form  of  the  attempted  readjustment  of 
things.  When  the  reformation  is  worked  out  it  must  come  from 
a  greater  distance  and  operate  by  an  infinitely  greater  sweep. 
“Thou  shalt  not  avenge,  nor  bear  any  grudge  against  the  children 
of  thy  people.”  “  Say  not,  I  will  do  so  to  him  as  he  hath  done  to 
me.”  “Dearly  beloved,  avenge  not  yourselves,  but  rather  give 
place  unto  wrath  :  for  it  is  written,  Vengeance  is  mine ;  I  will 
repay,  saith  the  Lord.”  Adoni-bezek  acknowledged  his  punish¬ 
ment  as  a  divine  visitation.  He  did  not  look  upon  it  as  a  petty 
resentment  on  the  part  of  his  enemies  ;  he  took  a  high  moral 
view  of  his  condition.  Why  have  we  suffered  loss  in  business  ? 
May  it  not  be  that  we  have  oppressed  the  poor  and  needy  ? 
Why  are  our  schemes  delayed  and  thwarted  ?  Is  it  not  because 
we  have  been  obstinate  and  unfriendly  towards  the  schemes  of 
others  ?  Why  are  we  held  in  disesteem  or  neglect  ?  Is  it 
not  because  of  the  contempt  with  which  we  have  treated  our 
brethren  ?  Let  us  look  at  the  moral  working  of  things,  and  see 
in  the  results  which  are  forced  upon  us,  not  the  petty  anger  of 
men — something  that  might  have  been  avoided — but  the  inevi¬ 
table  judgment  of  God  against  which  all  resistance  is  vain. 

This  law  does  not  operate  in  one  direction  only.  The  God 
who  punishes  also  rewards.  “  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget 


3io 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Judg.  i.  7. 


your  work  and  labour  of  love.”  u  The  liberal  soul  shall  be 
made  fat.”  “  Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you  ;  good  mea¬ 
sure,  pressed  down,  and  shaken  together,  and  running  over, 
shall  men  give  into  your  bosom.”  This  is  the  other  side  of  a 
law  which  is  full  of  awful  suggestion.  The  way  of  the  Lord  is 
thus  equal.  Nothing  that  we  do  for  him  or  for  his  cause  goes 
without  reward.  Whosoever  shall  give  a  cup  of  cold  water  only, 
in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  shall  be  surprised  by  the  approbation 
of  Heaven,  and  amazed  at  the  degree  in  which  every  simple  deed 
of  duty  or  love  is  magnified  by  the  Judge  of  the  whole  earth. 
But  we  must  not  work  merely  for  the  sake  of  a  reward,  for  then 
all  the  process  would  end  only  in  disappointment.  It  is  pos¬ 
sible  to  do  good  deeds  with  a  selfish  hand.  If  a  man  shall  set 
himself  to  convert  the  whole  world,  simply  in  order  that  he  may 
secure  heaven  at  last,  all  his  efforts  will  be  thrown  away  and  he 
himself  will  be  cast  into  outer  darkness.  The  reason  is  plain. 
There  is  no  similarity  between  the  motive  and  the  action  ;  they 
are  not  only  not  co-ordinate,  they  do  not  belong  to  the  same 
universe ;  they  can  only  be  regarded  as  abortive  and  pitiful  at¬ 
tempts  to  serve  God  and  mammon.  Where  the  motive  is  right 
the  good  deed  is  always  its  own  reward.  We  realise  heaven  in 
the  doing  of  it.  No  man  ever'yet  relieved  the  necessities  of 
poverty  without  himself  being  abundantly  fed  and  satisfied  by 
the  very  act  of  benevolence.  A  very  curious  law  is  this,  yet  that 
it  is  a  law  is  proved  by  innumerable  instances,  and  not  a  single 
instance  to  the  contrary  can  be  quoted  in  modification,  much  less 
in  disproof.  It  would  appear  as  if  eyes  were  watching  us  from 
heaven,  noting  all  the  way  that  we  take  and  all  the  deeds  that 
we  do,  and  that  instantly  some  communication  was  set  in  motion 
by  which  our  hearts  were  encouraged  and  refreshed  immediately 
upon  the  accomplishment  of  every  good  deed.  Hence  come  our 
holiest  raptures,  our  sublimest  ecstasies,  the  enthusiasms  which 
lift  us  into  the  gladness  of  heaven :  hence,  too,  comes  that 
sweet  content  which  never  fails  to  crown  the  day’s  labour  done 
by  the  hands  of  the  good  man.  If  we  would  know  how  happy 
human  life  can  be,  how  like  God’s  own  life,  peaceful  with  the 
very  quiet  of  heaven,  let  us  go  about  doing  good,  and  thus  imitate 
the  Son  of  God. 

Then  coming  back  to  the  other  side  of  the  great  truth,  there 


Judg.  i.  ;.] 


A  D  ONI-BEZEK. 


3 1 1 


stands  before  us  the  solemn  fact  that  though  justice  be  long- 
delayed  yet  it  will  be  eventually  vindicated.  Adoni-bezek  had 
run  a  long  course  of  wickedness :  seventy  kings  had  suffered 
under  his  cruel  knife.  It  seemed  as  if  all  power  had  been 
given  into  his  hands.  As  king  after  king  entered  within  the 
shadow  of  his  dominion  all  courage  must  have  sunk  and  died 
Yet  even  Adoni-bezek  came  within  the  grip  of  the  law  and 
learned  that  the  time  of  punishment  is  with  the  Lord  and  not 
with  man.  We  are  apt  to  suppose  that  after  a  certain  time  we 
have  outwitted  the  law  of  retribution.  When  half  a  lifetime  has 
been  lived  we  say,  Surely  there  can  be  no  revival  of  the  for¬ 
gotten  offence.  We  pass  an  act  of  oblivion  regarding  our  own 
moral  misdeeds.  God’s  hour  is  coming ;  a  stormy  and  terrible 
hour.  Adoni-bezek  acknowledged  his  punishment  to  be  just ; 
he  saw  it  to  be  God’s  act ;  so  at  last  every  wicked  man  will  own 
that  hell  is  his  proper  place.  Could  there  be  any  comfort  in 
perdition,  it  would  arise  from  the  fact  that  the  punishment  there 
inflicted  is  just.  Surely  some  such  reflection  as  this  alone 
can  enable  the  criminal  to  bear  the  tremendous  penalty  of  life¬ 
long  servitude.  Innocence  might  enable  him  to  bear  it,  because 
of  the  sureness  of  an  ultimate  vindication  and  reward ;  and 
consciousness  that  the  punishment  is  deserved  might  mitigate 
the  severity  of  the  penalty,  because  the  conscience  would  be  say¬ 
ing  all  the  while,  u  As  I  have  done  unto  others,  so  hath  the  Lord 
requited  me.”  Let  us  then  be  solemnised  and  yet  comforted. 
Life  is  not  a  haphazard  movement  as  in  some  aspects  it  occasion¬ 
ally  appears  to  be.  Above  it  all  is  seated  the  ever-watching  and 
incorruptible  Judge.  Let  us  give  ourselves  no  uneasiness  about 
the  punishment  of  offenders  ;  let  us  do  our  work  honestly  and 
straightforwardly  whoever  may  oppose,  and  in  the  long  run  we 
shall  see  that  there  is  a  rod  for  the  wucked,  and  a  crown  for 
those  who  do  well.  An  awful  message  the  pulpit  must  ever 
have  to  deliver  to  the  wicked  man  :  u  Though  hand  join  in 
hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  be  unpunished ;  ”  “  Be  sure  your 
sin  will  find  you  out.”  The  judgment  of  the  last  day  may 
therefore  be  the  briefest  of  all  exercises,  forasmuch  as  every  man 
will  be  a  witness  either  for  or  against  himself,  and  will  answer 
the  look  of  the  Judge  in  a  way  which  will  signify  beyond  all 
misinterpretation  either  heaven  or  hell. 


PRAYER 


Almighty  God,  we  bless  thee  for  the  wonderful  words  of  our  Saviour.  We 
often  cannot  understand  what  he  saith  ;  yet  from  what  we  do  understand, 
we  know  that  the  very  mystery  of  his  speech  is  itself  a  blessing.  The 
noontide  of  revelation  will  come,  the  full  light  will  shine  upon  all  his  words  ; 
then  shall  we  see  how  beautiful  they  are,  as  flowers  of  summer,  and  how 
rich  they  are,  as  sheaves  of  harvest.  Who  can  find  out  the  Son  of  God  unto 
perfection?  Who  can  say,  This  is  his  meaning,  and  there  is  none  other? 
Sooner  can  we  lay  a  line  upon  the  whole  heaven,  and  measure  the  height 
thereof,  than  we  can  understand  unto  perfectness  the  wisdom  of  the  Son  of 
God.  Never  man  spake  like  this  Man.  Verily  he  is  no  man  only  :  there  is 
a  reach  in  his  arm  which  is  not  found  in  human  arms  :  he  raises  it  to  the 
stars,  he  lays  his  hand  upon  the  throne  of  God,  he  searches  all  heaven. 
His  words  are  full  of  love,  full  of  mystery,  full  of  grace.  We  wonder  at  the 
gracious  words  which  proceed  out  of  his  mouth — the  words  themselves  so 
gracious  and  made  doubly  gracious  by  the  tenderness  and  majesty  of  his 
tone.  Give  us  at  all  times  when  Christ  is  the  speaker,  the  hearing  ear,  the 
understanding  heart,  and  the  obedient  will ;  then  shall  our  hearing  be  a 
means  of  grace,  and  the  sight  of  Christ  by  the  vision  of  the  soul  shall  be  a 
ministry  of  transfiguration  :  then  shall  we  be  like  him  when  we  see  him  as 
he  is.  To  gather  round  thy  book  is  our  chief  delight;  this  is  the  very 
jubilee  of  time,  the  hour  of  joy  and  growth  and  liberty.  May  no  man  miss 
the  sacredness  of  the  opportunity:  may  every  moment  be  begrudged  that 
is  not  spent  in  eager  attention,  and  may  the  one  desire  of  every  listener  be 
to  know  what  God  the  Lord  hath  spoken — the  invisible  God  in  heaven,  or 
the  visible  and  human  Christ  on  earth.  Thou  knowest  all  the  burdens  we 
carry,  and  with  what  little  strength  we  bear  them.  Every  perplexity  of 
our  life  is  known  unto  thee.  We  are  baffled,  disappointed,  turned  back, 
surprised  by  the  proportion  of  our  foes,  and  amazed  by  their  uncalculated 
number;  but  God  is  with  us,  and  when  the  Omnipotent  One  shall  make 
bare  his  arm,  behold  all  enemies  shall  be  dispersed  and  all  difficulties  over¬ 
come.  Help  any  men  who  are  being  crushed  by  their  burdens.  They  dare 
not  tell  all  the  tale  of  distress ;  they  hide  it  in  their  hearts,  and  grow  old  by 
the  very  concealment  of  the  misery.  The  Lord  look  upon  all  men,  read  the 
secret  of  life,  send  salvation  from  the  Cross,  and  help  from  the  sanctuary. 
Amen 


Judges  i.  27-36. 

i 

27.  Neither  did  Manasseh  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Beth-shean  and  her 
towns,  nor  Taanach  and  her  towns,  nor  the  inhabitants  of  Dor  and  her 


Judg.  i.  27-36.] 


3*3 


towns,  nor  the  inhabitants  of  Ibleam  and  her  towns,  nor  the  inhabitants  of 
Megiddo  and  her  towns  :  but  the  Canaanites  would  dwell  in  that  land. 

28.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Israel  was  strong,  that  they  put  the 
Canaanites  to  tribute,  and  did  not  utterly  drive  them  out. 

29.  Neither  did  Ephraim  drive  out  the  Canaanites  that  dwelt  in  Gezer  : 
but  the  Canaanites  dwelt  in  Gezer  among  them. 

30.  Neither  did  Zebulun  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Kitron,  nor  the 
inhabitants  of  Nahalol ;  but  the  Canaanites  dwelt  am^ng  them,  and  became 
tributaries. 

31.  Neither  did  Asher  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Accho,  nor  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  Zidon,  nor  of  Ahlab,  nor  of  Achzib,  nor  of  Helbah,  nor  of  Aphik, 
nor  of  Rehob : 

32.  But  the  Asherites  dwelt  among  the  Caananites,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
land  :  for  they  did  not  drive  them  out. 

33.  Neither  did  Naphtali  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Beth-shemesh,  nor 
the  inhabitants  of  Beth-anath  ;  but  he  dwelt  among  the  Canaanites,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land  :  nevertheless,  the  inhabitants  of  Beth-shemesh  and 
of  Beth-anath  became  tributaries  unto  them. 

34.  And  the  Amorites  forced  the  children  of  Dan  into  the  mountain :  for 
they  would  not  suffer  them  to  come  down  to  the  valley  : 

35.  But  the  Amorites  would  dwell  in  mount  Heres  in  Aijalon,  and  in 
Shaalbim  :  yet  the  hand  of  the  house  of  Joseph  prevailed,  so  that  they 
became  tributaries. 

36.  And  the  coast  of  the  Amorites  was  from  the  going  up  to  Akrabbim, 
from  the  rock,  and  upward. 


TRIBUTARIES. 


HE  only  profitable  use  we  can  make  of  this  section  is  to 


Jl  consider  its  spiritual  applications.  We  are  always  engaged 
in  battle  or  in  progress,  and,  do  what  we  may,  we  are  not  always 
able  to  carry  everything  our  own  way.  The  signature  of  defeat 
is  somewhere  upon  our  proudest  achievements ;  again  and  again 
shadows  appear,  which  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  presence 
of  the  enemy.  The  body  remains,  and  social  contact  and 
sensuous  appeal ;  in  a  word,  the  very  spirit  of  evil  is  continually 
appearing  and  reappearing  even  in  the  best  moods  of  our  life. 
We  want  to  drive  away  the  enemy,  and  we  but  partially  succeed. 
Sometimes  we  think  we  have  wholly  banished  him,  and  behold, 
he  suddenly  returns  from  concealment,  and  is  more  malignant 
and  furious  than  ever.  Our  life  is  thus  a  continual  series  of 
surprises,  and  the  surprises  are  often  very  stinging  disappoint¬ 
ments.  Again  and  again  we  say  to  our  souls,  Take  your  ease, 
and  even  venture  to  be  mirthful,  for  the  horse  and  his  rider  are 


3H 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Judg.  i.  27-36. 


thrown  into  the  sea,  and  the  whole  land  is  cleansed  of  the 
pollution  of  the  presence  of  the  enemy ;  and  whilst  the  song  of 
triumph  and  thankfulness  is  in  our  mouth,  the  sea  gives  up  its 
dead,  and  the  land  becomes  as  foul  as  ever.  When  we  would  do 
good  evil  is  present  with  us ;  our  prayers  are  punctuated  with 
overtures  to  the  enemy  ;  even  in  our  supplications  we  half  promise 
the  devil  to  return,  and  serve  him  as  eagerly  as  ever.  All  this 
is  full  of  mystery  and  full  of  pain.  What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ? 
There  remains  the  sweet  and  comforting  doctrine  that  even  where 
extinction  is  impossible  tribute  may  be  charged  and  enforced  ; 
not  only  so,  sometimes  tribute  is  better  than  extinction.  What 
if  in  the  end  it  should  appear  that  it  is  better  that  we  should  be 
conscious  of  the  presence  of  the  enemy  than  that  we  should  feel 
too  secure  in  our  spiritual  position  ?  What  if  it  should  be 
proved  that  the  enemy  himself  is  to  be  made  tributary  to  our 
spiritual  greatness  and  influence  ?  Even  this  is  within  the 
possibility  of  the  grace  and  sovereignty  of  God. 

The  world  itself  is  to  be  laid  under  tribute,  and  must  be  so  laid  if 
the  full  Christian  life  is  to  be  lived.  The  Christian  is  not  removed 
out  of  the  world,  but  is  set  in  a  totally  new  relation  to  everything 
which  the  world  contains  and  represents.  The  world  .becomes 
one  of  two  things :  it  becomes  either  a  limit,  or  a  symbol ; 
whether  we  take  it  in  the  one  sense  or  in  the  other  will  depend 
upon  our  spiritual  state.  To  the  worldly  man  the  world  is 
enough ;  he  wants  nothing  that  cannot  be  found  in  its-  gardens,  or 
drawn  from  its  fountains,  or  descried  upon  its  horizon  ;  its  summer 
is  heaven,  its  night  is  Sabbath,  its  wealth  is  honour.  The  worldly 
man  in  so  reasoning  is  perfectly  consistent  with  his  fundamental 
conception.  Whatever  he  may  do  theoretically,  he  practically 
accepts  but  one  world,  and,  accepting  that  one  world,  he  is  bound 
to  make  the  most  of  it ;  it  becomes  large  to  his  vision,  and 
valuable  to  his  sense  of  importance  :  whatever  other  worlds  there 
may  or  may  not  be  is  to  him  a  matter  of  no  consequence ;  he  has 
found  space  enough  for  the  exercise  of  his  energy  and  the  satis¬ 
faction  of  his  desires.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Christian  man 
cannot  be  content  with  this  view.  However  great  the  world  may 
be  in  miles  and  leagues,  it  becomes  smaller  and  smaller  to  the 
Christian  as  he  grows  in  spiritual  relationships.  What  before 


Judg.  i.  27-36.] 


TRIBUTARIES . 


3i5 


was  vast  dwindles  into  insignificance ;  what  before  was  important 
becomes  trivial  ;  and  what  before  had  about  it  the  traces  of 
durability  becomes  transient  and  uncertain.  To  the  spiritual 
mind  the  world  is  a  symbol,  and  in  this  view  it  is  of  infinite  con¬ 
sequence  as  supplying  countless  starting-points  upon  which  the 
sanctified  imagination  can  operate  :  all  light,  all  force,  all  beauty, 
all  fruitfulness — yea,  and  even  all  darkness,  and  judgment,  and 
fear,  can  be  turned  into  texts  upon  which  the  Christian  imagina¬ 
tion  dilates,  with  ever-growing  power,  and  profit  to  itself.  In  this 
sense  the  Christian  man  makes  the  world  his  tributary.  He 
does  not  destroy  the  world,  but  says  to  it  in  effect,  You  shall  give 
me  everything  you  can  supply  to  stimulate  my  imagination,  to 
encourage  my  aspirations,  to  disclose  to  me  new  possibilities,  and 
to  hint  to  me  sublime  destinies ;  the  very  stones  of  the  field  shall 
be  sermons  to  me,  and  the  running  brooks  shall  be  books,  and  in 
everything  I  will  find  good.  The  Christian  man  is  thus  placed  in 
a  right  relation  to  all  material  nature  :  it  no  longer  overpowers 
him  by  its  vastness  and  brightness;  it  has  become  to  him  a  com* 
paratively  little  thing  in  itself,  yet  most  useful  as  a  pedestal,  on 
which  he  can  stand,  and  from  which  he  can  view  ultimate  issues 
and  the  welcoming  hospitalities  of  still  wider  spaces,  even  of  the 
heavenly  citizenship  itself.  This  was  the  meaning  of  Christ’s 
prayer  when  he  said  that  he  did  not  desire  that  his  disciples  should 
be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but  that  they  should  be  kept  from  the 
evil  in  it.  This  was  the  meaning  of  Paul’s  desire  that  certain 
things  should  be  used  and  not  abused.  This  also  is  the  full 
interpretation  of  the  policy  that  men  should  marry  as  if  they 
married  not,  buy  and  sell  as  if  they  bought  and  sold  not,  plough 
and  sow  as  if  they  ploughed  and  sowed  not :  all  this  constitutes 
an  experience  which  must  be  lived  in  order  to  be  understood ; 
when  set  forth  in  words  it  is  simple  contradiction  and  impossi¬ 
bility,  but  wdien  advanced  upon  from  the  point  of  actual  personal 
realisation,  it  becomes  a  massive  and  instructive  harmony. 
Every  man  has  to  answer  whether  he  will  treat  the  world  from 
a  bodily  or  a  spiritual  point  of  view.  Let  it  be  fully  known 
that  he  is  at  perfect  liberty  to  treat  it  from  either  point ;  but 
whichever  point  he  may  choose  he  must  accept  the  responsi¬ 
bility  of  the  election.  It  cannot  be  too  emphatically  declared 
that  spiritual  goodness  is  not  forced  upon  us — in  fact,  if  the 


316 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE .  [Judg.  i.  27-36. 


operation  admitted  of  the  presence  of  force,  the  goodness  itself 
would  be  destroyed  in  that  proportion.  Man  has  the  liberty 
to  choose  the  wrong,  but  not  the  right  to  choose  it.  It  should 
be  considered  an  immorality  to  take  any  view  either  of  man¬ 
kind  or  time  or  space  which  is  belittling,  or  which  partakes 
of  the  nature  of  reduction  to  contempt ;  where  the  value  goes 
down  in  things  material  it  should  only  be  because  the  value 
of  things  spiritual  has  risen  in  the  thought  and  imagination, 
in  the  judgment  and  reason.  Here,  then,  is  comfort  for  the 
rich  and  the  mighty.  If  they  account  their  wealth  enough,  the 
world  is  no  longer  their  tributary,  but  their  master  :  if  they  accept 
their  position  in  the  spirit  of  stewardship  and  discharge  its 
responsibilities  with  spiritual  fidelity,  then  the  world  is  made  to 
contribute  to  their  strength  and  usefulness,  and  is  in  very  deed 
held  in  tribute  to  their  spiritual  suzerainty. 

Coming  into  closer  quarters,  and  making  the  question  still 
more  personal,  it  will  be  found  that  it  is  possible  for  every  man 
to  constitute  his  own  nature  into  a  series  of  tributaries  to  his 
spiritual  wealth  and  force.  For  example,  every  passion  which 
agitates  the  human  spirit  should  be  made  tributary  to  moral 
excellence.  Take,  for  example,  the  passion  of  Ambition.  Men 
wish  to  become  more  and  more,  greater  and  greater,  richer  and 
richer,  and  to  exercise  an  ever-growing  influence,  and  to  live  in 
the  midst  of  ever-increasing  applause.  This  desire  may  be 
mean  or  great,  according  to  the  use  which  is  made  of  it;  nothing 
is  more  contemptible  when  limited  to  selfish  ends,  and  nothing 
more  desirable  when  applied  in  disinterested  directions.  There 
is  a  holy  ambition ;  there  is  a  fever  for  power  and  influence 
which  may  burn  to  the  glory  of  God.  Such  an  ambition  is  never 
satisfied  with  little  conquests  or  small  delights  ;  it  contemplates 
the  possession  of  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  in  the  name 
of  the  King,  and  would  hand  over  to  him  the  whole  heathen 
world  as  his  lot  and  inheritance.  Ambition  thus  becomes 
spiritual  enthusiasm  ;  the  fire  of  it  flames  towards  heaven  with 
infinite  energy.  It  is  not  the  little  ambition  which  dwindles  into 
meanness  and  pitiable  calculation  as  to  means  and  ends ;  it  is 
the  heroic  ambition  which  claims  all  creation  as  the  theatre  of 
its  action,  and  all  nature  as  its  assistant  in  working  out  the 


Judg.  i.  27-36.] 


TRIBUTARIES. 


317 


conquest  of  peoples  and  nations,  kindreds  and  tongues  for  Christ. 
Take  again,  for  example,  the  passion  of  Resentment ;  that, 
indeed,  is  dangerous  fire  to  play  with.  Some  men  seem  to  be 
naturally  and  almost  incurably  resentful ;  they  love  to  avenge 
themselves ;  they  are  positively  delighted  when  they  see  how 
judgment  overtakes  their  personal  enemies,  and  how  their  foes 
are  dragged  in  the  dust ;  they  do  not  scruple  to  call  this  action 
providential,  or  to  trace  it  to  divine  causes,  which  seem  to 
recognise  with  just  partiality  their  own  peculiar  virtues.  Is  it 
possible  for  resentment  to  be  made  tributary  to  goodness? 
Yes ;  even  this  miracle  can  be  wrought  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  resentment  itself  may  not  be  destroyed,  but  it  may  be 
turned  against  the  sin  rather  than  against  the  sinner ;  by  this  use 
it  is  made  tributary  to  the  highest  purposes.  This  is  the  kind  of 
resentment  which  attests  real  spiritual  growth.  At  first  we  burn 
against  the  evil-doer.  Our  animosity  ma}^  be  said  to  be  concrete 
or  personal,  and  we  suppose  that  resentment  is  gratified  by  the 
punishment  of  the  individual  offender ;  it  is  enough  to  satisfy  our 
pride  or  to  satiate  our  vengeance  to  see  the  bad  man  crushed 
or  even  destroyed.  Christianity  entirely  corrects  this  view  of 
penalty  and  this  use  of  resentment.  Instead  of  allowing  us  to 
fix  upon  the  sinner,  as  if  he  in  his  person  comprehended  the 
whole  problem  and  difficulty,  it  binds  us  to  look  at  the  sin, 
the  boundless  quantity,  the  infinite  hugeness,  that  raises  its 
black  form  into  the  heavens  and  casts  a  shadow  upon  the  sky. 
Then  resentment  is  divested  of  its  pettiness,  its  selfish  animosity, 
its  evil  humour,  and  is  turned  into  a  divine  engine  and  an 
expression  of  the  very  heart  of  God  against  sin,  which  is  the 
abominable  thing  which  God  hates.  The  man  who  has  so 
treated  his  resentfulness  has,  by  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God, 
turned  that  resentfulness  into  a  tributary  to  all  that  is  best  and 
strongest  in  his  spiritual  nature. 

Looking  at  this  question  from  the  directly  opposite  point  of 

* 

view,  we  shall  find  that  all  the  higher  faculties  which  distinguish 
man  must  be  made  to  pay  tribute  to  the  spiritual  dignity  which 
makes  him  immortal.  Our  higher  faculties  may  either  be  debased 
or  exalted ;  that  is  to  say,  they  may  be  made  to  impoverish  us  or 
to  contribute  towards  the  enlargement  and  strengthening  of  our 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Judg.  i.  27-36. 


3i8 


character.  Take,  for  example,  the  faculty  of  imagination.  How 
easily  we  may  become  its  victims  !  A  life  of  utter  falseness  may 
be  created  or  stimulated  by  the  action  of  fancy.  The  whole 
world  of  deceit  lies  within  the  compass  of  imagination.  By  the 
perversion  of  imagination  we  tell  lies  to  ourselves,  we  blot  out  all 
moral  distinctions,  we  fail  to  discriminate  between  the  right  and 
the  left,  the  upward  and  the  downward  ;  and  imagination  delights 
to  show  its  genius  by  the  multiplication  of  its  falsehoods.  On  the 
other  hand,  imagination  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  interpretation 
of  nature  and  revelation.  Imagination  sees  possibilities,  reconciles 
discrepancies,  makes  the  rough  places  plain,  and  the  high  places 
low,  and  prepares  the  way  of  the  Lord  in  every  wilderness.  Imagi¬ 
nation  delivers  the  soul  from  the  narrowness  and  deceitfulness 
of  the  letter,  and  leads  it  into  the  gracious  liberty  of  the  spirit. 
Imagination  is  the  flying  faculty  of  the  mind.  Reason  walks,  halts, 
pauses  to  take  its  breath,  looks  round  in  wonder,  half-religious, 
half-misbelieving,  and  puts  down  its  conclusions  haltingly  and 
self-distrustfully ;  Reason  stands  by  the  side  of  the  precipice 
and  shudders  at  the  contemplation  of  its  depth  ;  Reason  looks  out 
upon  the  unmeasured  ocean,  and  wonders  how  any  mariner  dare 
tempt  the  deceitful  waters  :  Imagination,  on  the  other  hand,  flies 
across  the  abyss,  spreads  its  infinite  pinions  and  hovers  over  the 
sea  as  over  a  drop  of  dew;  Imagination  sees  in  the  darkness  as 
clearly  as  in  the  light,  and  is  even  more  at  home  amid  the 
multitude  of  the  starry  lights  than  in  the  companionship  of  the 
solitary  sun.  Men  must,  therefore,  determine  what  use  they  will 
make  of  their  imagination,  being  assured  that  it  will  either  tend 
towards  their  destruction  or  towards  the  enlargement  and  beauty 
of  their  soul’s  life.  Take,  again,  the  high  faculty  of  Wit  or 
Humour,  near  to  which  is  the  kindred  faculty,  if  it  may  be  so 
called,  of  Pathos — the  wondrous  gift  of  tears.  Wit  may  be 
turned  into  a  tributary  as  certainly  as  may  the  power  of  prayer. 
Christ  has  room  for  wit  in  his  great  household  ;  but  wit  must  be 
a  servant,  not  a  master  :  it  must  teach  by  laughter  what  cannot 
be  easily  taught  by  philosophy  :  it  must  do  by  a  flash  what  never 
could  be  done  by  a  tedious  process.  Wit,  irony,  raillery,  humour, 
pathos,  all  these  may  be  so  used  as  to  loosen  the  solidity  of 
character,  or  so  employed  as  to  increase  its  massiveness. 
Christianity  never  designed  to  drive  away  these  faculties  from 


Judg.  i.  27-36.] 


TRIBUTARIES. 


3*9 


the  possession  of  man  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  meant  man  to  realise 
their  presence,  and  turn  that  presence  to  the  highest  use.  To  lay 
down  the  contrary  doctrine  is  to  teach  that  Christianity  can  only 
live  by  the  cutting  away  of  one  half  of  our  human  nature.  I11 
this  sense,  as  in  all  others,  Christ  is  to  have  the  heathen  for  his 
inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession. 
Things  which  seem  to  lie  farthest  away  from  his  Cross,  his 
awful  sacrifice,  his  infinite  solemnity,  are  to  be  brought  into 
service  and  laid  under  tribute ;  this  also  cometh  forth  from  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  who  is  excellent  in  counsel  and  wonderful  in 
working.  What  is  said  of  imagination  and  wit,  of  humour  and 
pathos,  may  be  said  also  of  Eloquence  and  Music.  These  latter 
may  be  made  into  seductions  that  shall  lead  the  soul  away  from 
the  altar  and  the  Cross  :  or  they  may  be  made  into  servants  of 
the  living  God,  unfolding  his  kingdom  with  all  the  splendours  of 
expression  and  all  the  fascinations  of  melody.  Christ  must  have 
these  as  wTell  as  every  other  faculty  of  the  soul.  Eloquence  must 
wait  upon  him  to  receive  the  message,  and  then  must  turn  that 
message  into  persuasive  appeal.  Music  must  stand  by  his  side 
to  learn  his  will,  and  then  make  it  a  life-long  study  to  turn  the 
expression  of  that  will  into  an  unanswerable  persuasive  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  judgment  and  the  will  of  the  world. 

There  is  still  another  point  of  view  from  which  this  question 
of  tribute  may  be  regarded.  Let  us  lay  it  down  without  misgiving, 
that  all  the  practical  conditions  of  life  must  be  made  tributary  to 
Jesus  Christ.  Our  social  advantages  will  either  overweight  us 
or  enable  us  to  stand  upon  them  as  upon  a  pedestal  whence  we 
can  view  further  distances  and  greater  possibilities.  It  is  sad 
to  see  manhood  crushed  by  the  very  respectability  of  its  environ¬ 
ment.  Are  there  not  men  who  are  overpowered  by  their  own 
respectability  ? — such  men,  I  mean,  as  have  to  consider  the 
bearing  of  any  spiritual  action  or  attitude  upon  their  social  conse¬ 
quence  :  they  wonder  how  such  and  such  a  course  will  be  regarded 
in  society.  Such  men  are  not  masters  but  slaves  ;  they  live  for 
others  in  the  base  sense  of  being  ruled  by  the  whims  and  policies 
of  others,  and  not  in  the  holy  sense  of  service  and  sacrifice.  What 
good  the  rich  man  might  do !  What  a  contribution  of  influence 
the  man  of  honour  might  make  to  every  Christian  cause  !  and 


320 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Judg.  i.  27-36. 


the  contribution  would  be  the  greater  in  proportion  as  that  cause 
was  shadowed  and  depressed  by  the  haughtiness  of  other  men. 
Then  there  is  the  condition  of  leisure.  Surely  leisure  ought  to  be 
made  tributary  to  the  cause  of  the  Saviour.  To  how  many  men 
may  not  the  question  be  addressed  :  Why  stand  ye  idle  all  the 
day  ?  What  a  comfort  they  might  be  to  their  churches,  to  the 
sick,  to  the  poor,  to  the  ignorant !  Even  leisure  shall  be  reckoned 
as  an  element  in  the  judgment  of  our  life.  There  are  men  so 
toil-bound  and  toil-driven  that  they  have  actually  no  time  to  render 
services  of  benevolence  to  their  fellow-creatures ;  from  early 
morning  until  late  at  night  they  are  grinding  at  the  wheel,  and 
Gcd  knows  how  their  energy  is  strained  and  their  resources  are 
exhausted,  and  he  will  be  gentle  in  his  judgment  of  men  so  hard 
driven.  But  there  are  others  who  have  no  need  to  toil  in  this 
servile  fashion,  who  ought  to  consider  whether  they  cannot 
withdraw  from  certain  engagements  and  devote  the  time  thus 
saved  to  more  distinctively  Christian  purposes.  There  are  others 
who  have  positively  retired,  in  the  general  acceptation  of  the 
word,  from  the  business  of  the  world,  upon  whom  leisure  seems 
to  rest  as  a  burden,  who  might,  were  they  rightly  disposed,  be 
eyes  to  the  blind  and  feet  to  the  lame,  centres  of  strength  and 
security  to  every  good  cause,  pillars  and  supports  of  the  very 
Church  of  God.  The  poorest  of  all  poor  things  it  is  to  have 
nothing  to  do.  But  I  deny  that  any  man  has  a  right  to  the  use 
of  these  words.  When  a  man  says  he  has  nothing  to  do  he  simply 
blinds  himself  to  the  reality  of  his  circumstances,  or  denies  the 
reality  of  his  responsibility.  Such  a  man  must  be  condemned 
because  he  uses  false  language  or  because  he  deceives  himself 
by  sophisms  of  the  most  selfish  description.  When  all  our 
men  of  wealth  and  men  of  leisure  bind  themselves  in  a  holy 
bond  to  consecrate  their  time  to  the  service  of  Christ,  the  poor, 
and  the  ignorant,  the  Church  will  be  marked  by  an  intenser 
and  holier  activity.  God  speed  the  coming  of  that  time  !  The 
Church  is  cursed  by  indolence.  Christians  are  doing  nothing 
until  they  are  doing  everything.  It  is  not  enough  for  them  to 
criticise,  to  pass  opinions,  to  offer  judgments,  and  thus  indirectly 
to  magnify  their  own  importance ;  to  work,  always  to  work, 
every  one  to  work,  .c  hould  be  the  motto  of  the  Church  which  is 
blood- redeemed. 


Judg.  i.  27-36.] 


TRIBUTARIES. 


321 


Then  there  is  another  and  final  point  which  is  not  wanting, 
indeed,  in  surprise.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  even  suffer¬ 
ing  itself  may  be  made  tributary  to  Christian  character.  We 
cannot  escape  suffering;  but  we  can  determine  the  use  to  which 
suffering  shall  be  put.  It  may  either  be  a  dark  presence  to 
affright  us,  or  a  veiled  angel  to  cheer  us  on  our  way.  But  this 
experience  can  only  come  out  of  real  life.  “  No  chastening  for 
the  present  seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous  :  nevertheless 
afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  unto 
them  which  are  exercised  thereby.”  Jesus  Christ  endured  the 
Cross,  despising  the  shame ;  and  when  we  inquire  into  the 
reason  of  this  sublime  contempt,  we  learn  that  he  was  animated 
by  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him.  The  Apostle  Paul  rises  into 
one  of  his  noblest  raptures  as  he  crushes  suffering  under  his  feet 
and  makes  it  contribute  to  his  Christian  steadfastness  and  joy. 
He  says,  “  We  glory  in  tribulations  also  :  knowing  that  tribula¬ 
tion  worketh  patience  ;  and  patience,  experience  ;  and  experience, 
hope  :  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed ;  because  the  love  of  God 
is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  given 
unto  us.”  The  Apostle  James  continues  in  the  same  strain,  saying, 
“My  brethren,  count  it  all  joy  when  you  fall  into  divers  tempta¬ 
tions  ;  knowing  this,  that  the  trying  of  your  faith  worketh 
patience.  But  let  patience  have  her  perfect  work,  that  ye  may 
be  perfect  and  entire,  wanting  nothing.”  Nor  is  the  voice  of  the 
Apostle  Peter  wanting  in  this  grand  testimony  as  to  the  tributary 
position  of  suffering  in  the  Christian  life.  His  words  are  : 
“  Rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ’s  sufferings ; 
that,  when  his  glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  also  with 
exceeding  joy.”  And,  again,  he  says,  “  If  any  man  suffer  as  a 
Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed  ;  but  let  him  glorify  God  on 
this  behalf.”  Here,  then,  we  have  a  great  tributary  system 
established  at  the  very  centre  of  the  Christian  life.  Nothing  is 
destroyed  but  sin.  Everything  else  is  turned  to  a  holy  purpose. 
We  use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it.  In  the  coming  and  going 
of  its  lights  and  shadows  we  see  a  high  spiritual  symbolism ;  in 
the  uncertainty  of  its  joys  we  see  how  foolish  it  is  for  the 
immortal  to  attempt  to  find  its  satisfactions  in  the  temporary ;  in 
all  its  beauty  and  fruitfulness  we  see  the  beginning  of  heaven  : 
the  morning  is  a  benign  encouragement ;  the  night  is  a  gracious 


VOL.  v. 


21 


322 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Judg.  i.  27-36. 


rest ;  the  summer  is  a  hint  of  paradise,  and  death  itself  is  a 
door  opening  upon  heaven.  Thus  we  come  into  a  right  relation 
to  all  things  round  about  us.  Until  we  knew  Christ  we  stood 
in  a  false  relation  to  everything;  but  now  living  in  Christ 
and  breathing  his  Spirit,  we  know  exactly  what  the  world  is 
and  what  it  can  do,  and  whilst  in  some  moods  we  despise  its 
littleness,  in  others  we  are  enabled  to  accept  every  one  of  its 
intimations  as  an  assistant  to  our  faith  and  an  increase  to 
the  brightness  of  our  hope. 

SELECTED  NOTE. 

11  But  the  Amorites  would  dwell  in  Mount  Heres  in  Aijalon ,  and  in  Shaalbim  : 
yet  the  hand  of  the  house  of  Joseph  prevailed ,  so  that  they  became  tributaries  ” 
(Judg.  i.  35).  We  find  the  Amorites  first  mentioned  in  Gen.  xiv.  7 — “The 
Amorites  that  dwelt  in  Hazezon-tamar,”  the  cutting  of  the  palm-tree ,  after¬ 
wards  called  Engedi,  fountain  of  the  kid ,  a  city  in  the  wilderness  of  Judaea 
not  far  from  the  Dead  Sea.  In  the  promise  to  Abraham  (Gen.  xv.  21)  the 
Amorites  are  specified  as  one  of  the  nations  whose  country  would  be  given 
to  his  posterity.  But  at  that  time  three  confederates  of  the  patriarch 
belonged  to  this  tribe  :  Mamre,  Aner,  and  Eshcol  (Gen.  xiv.  13,  24).  When 
the  Israelites  were  about  to  enter  the  promised  land,  the  Amorites  occupied 
a  tract  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan.  That  part  of  their  territories  which  lay 
to  the  east  of  the  Jordan  was  allotted  to  the  tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and 
half  the  tribe  of  Manasseh.  They  were  under  two  kings — Sihon,  king 
of  Bleshbon  (frequently  called  king  of  the  Amorites),  and  Og,  king  of 
Baslian,  who  “  dwelt  at  Ashtaroth  [and]  in  [at]  Edrei  ”  (Deut.  i.  4,  com¬ 
pared  with  Josh.  xii.  4,  xiii.  12).  Before  hostilities  commenced  messengers 
were  sent  to  Sihon,  requesting  permission  to  pass  through  his  land  ;  but 
Sihon  refused,  and  came  to  Jahaz  and  fought  with  Israel;  and  Israel  smote 
him  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  possessed  his  land  from  Arnon  (Modjeb) 
unto  Jabbok  (Zerka)  (Num.  xxi.  24).  Og  also  gave  battle  to  the  Israelites 
at  Edrei,  and  was  totally  defeated.  After  the  capture  of  Ai,  five  kings  of 
the  Amorites,  whose  dominions  lay  within  the  allotment  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah,  leagued  together  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  Gibeonites  for  having 
made  a  separate  peace  with  the  invaders.  Joshua,  on  being  apprised  of 
their  design,  marched  to  Gibeon  and  defeated  them  with  great  slaughter 
(Josh.  x.  10).  Another  confederacy  was  shortly  after  formed  on  a  still 
larger  scale ;  the  associated  forces  are  described  as  “  much  people,  even  as 
the  sand  upon  the  sea-shore  in  multitude,  with  horses  and  chariots  very 
many”  (Josh.  xi.  4).  Josephus  sa}^  that  they  consisted  of  300,000  armed 
foot-soldiers,  10,000  cavalry,  and  20,000  chariots  ( Atttiq .  v.  I,  18).  Joshua 
came  suddenly  upon  them  by  the  waters  of  Merom,  and  Israel  smote  them 
until  they  left  none  remaining  (Josh.  xi.  7,  8).  Still,  after  their  severe 
defeats,  the  Amorites,  by  means  of  their  war-chariots  and  cavalry,  donfined 
the  Danites  to  the  hills,  and  would  not  suffer  them  to  settle  in  the  plains : 
they  even  succeeded  in  retaining  possession  of  some  of  the  mountainous  parts. 
“  The  Amorites  would  dwell  in  Mount  Heres  in  Aijalon,  and  in  Shaalbim  : 
yet  the  hand  of  the  house  of  Joseph  prevailed,  so  that  they  became  tribu¬ 
taries.  And  the  coast  of  the  Amorites  was  from  the  going  up  to  Akrabbim 
{the  steep  of  scorpions )  from  the  rock  and  upwards  ”  (Judg.  i.  34-36).  It  is 
mentioned  as  an  extraordinary  circumstance  that  in  the  days  of  Samuel  there 
was  peace  between  Israel  and  the  Amorites  (1  Sam.  vii.  14).  In  Solomon’s 
reign  a  tribute  of  bond-service  was  levied  on  the  remnant  of  the  Amorites 
and  other  Canaanitish  nations  (1  Kings  ix.  21 ;  2  Chron.  viii.  8). 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  let  thy  goodness  appear  unto  us  as  a  new  light  shining  from 
heaven.  We  know  it  is  as  venerable  as  thyself;  still,  may  it  be  new  to  us  as 
the  dawning  of  another  day ;  may  we  have  a  new  sense  of  thy  goodness,  a 
new  feeling  of  its  largeness,  and  may  we  answer  its  appeal  with  the  service 
and  sacrifice  of  a  whole  life.  Thou  dost  send  the  years  upon  us  one  by  one, 
that  we  may  work  in  them,  and  study  thy  will,  and  do  what  we  can  to 
realise  thy  purpose :  enable  us  to  see  thy  meaning,  to  trace  thy  hand,  to  obey 
thy  will ;  condescend  to  fill  us  continually  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  bless 
thee  that  we  have  a  religious  idea  of  time  :  no  longer  are  the  hours  silent  to 
us ;  they  cry  unto  us  to  arise,  and  work,  and  suffer,  and  pray,  and  hope ;  we 
would  answer  their  appeal ;  we  would  rise  early  and  toil  late,  if  haply  by  thy 
grace  we  may  do  thy  holy  will.  For  all  the  helps  thou  dost  give  us  by  the 
way  we  bless  thee;  for  the  day  of  rest  we  especially  thank  thee  :  for  a 
moment  thou  dost  drive  back  the  great  flood,  and  still  the  noises  of  the  world, 
and  give  us  rest  in  thy  house  within  the  shadow  of  the  altar ;  whilst  we 
are  there  may  we  hear  thy  voice,  and  see  the  image  of  thy  love,  and  be  filled 
with  thy  Spirit :  then  shall  the  coming  week  answer  our  hand  ;  we  shall  be 
able  to  guide  its  affairs  with  discretion,  with  enlarged  wisdom  which  is  never 
baffled,  and  with  Christian  hopefulness  which  gives  songs  in  the  night  time. 
Thus  would  we  begin  the  year  in  God’s  strength  and  in  God’s  fear,  hoping 
continually  in  God,  living  in  the  Son  of  God,  Christ  Jesus  the  Saviour,  eating 
his  flesh,  drinking  his  blood,  partaking  of  his  Spirit,  and  entering  into  the 
mystery  of  his  love.  May  no  vow  that  is  good  be  broken  ;  may  no  purpose  that 
is  noble  be  frustrated  ;  may  our  will  be  set  steadily  in  the  direction  of  heaven, 
and  may  thine  angels  come  around  us  as  ministering  spirits,  giving  us 
assistance,  light,  stimulus,  according  to  the  need  of  the  day.  Thy  mercies 
towards  us  have  been  beyond  all  number.  As  for  thy  compassions,  there  is 
no  figure  by  which  we  can  make  them  known  :  they  are  tender  beyond  all 
tenderness,  they  yearn  over  us  with  infinite  solicitude, — because  thy  com¬ 
passions  fail  not,  therefore  we  are  not  consumed.  We  would  live  upon  thy 
love  ;  we  would  find  everything  within  that  gracious  mystery — all  aid  to  read 
the  Bible,  all  comfort  in  sorrow,  all  light  in  darkness ;  we  would  see  it  become 
the  resurrection  and  the  life  in  the  presence  of  our  dearest  dead.  According 
to  the  days  wherein  thou  hast  afflicted  us,  be  gracious  unto  all  thy  people; 
give  them  double  in  exchange  for  all  thou  hast  laid  upon  them,  that  by 
multiplied  joy  they  may  be  enabled  to  see  the  meaning  of  discipline,  and  by 
added  comfort  they  may  know  what  thou  dost  mean  by  the  rod  of  humilia¬ 
tion.  Let  our  homes  be  precious  in  thy  sight,  our  little  dwelling-places, 
where  the  fire  means  hospitality,  where  the  door  means  security,  where  the 
window  means  an  outlook  upon  heaven’s  light ;  the  Lord  grant  unto  us  in 


324 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Judg-.  ii. 


our  houses  security,  protection,  comfort,  and  make  our  table  as  a  banqueting- 
table  of  God,  whereat  we  eat  what  is  good  for  the  soul  and  drink  of  the  wine 
of  the  Saviours  blood.  Be  with  us  in  our  businesses;  they  are  many, 
trying,  fluctuating, — now  so  hard,  now  too  easy;  now  a  great  temptation,  and 
now  a  violent  distress  ;  the  Lord  help  us  to  get  rid  of  these  by  working  at 
them  patiently  and  lovingly,  in  the  spirit  of  heavenly  citizenship,  and  en¬ 
countering  all  earthly  trials,  losses,  difficulties,  with  contempt,  because  we 
look  for  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  which  cannot  fade  away.  Regard  the 
children  with  a  father’s  love.  We  are  all  children  in  thy  sight.  Thou  hast 
nought  but  little  ones  in  all  the  nursery  of  the  universe.  But  thou  knowest 
to  whom  we  refer  ?3  the  childien.  Give  them  strength  of  body,  brightness 
of  mind,  hopefulness  of  spirit,  and  open  their  way  in  the  world,  that  they 
may  see  that  all  affairs  are  under  God’s  hand  and  all  issues  are  with  the 
Lord.  Heal  the  sick,  if  healing  be  good  for  them  ;  and  if  thou  dost  not  heal 
the  body  with  health  that  must  again  decline,  heal  the  spirit  with  immor¬ 
tality.  Grant  a  blessing  to  every  heart ;  specially  to  those  hearts  made  sore 
and  twice  tender  by  chastisement,  loss,  bereavement,  new  visions  of  the 
littleness  of  life,  and  new  glimpses  of  the  possible  eternity.  In  all  good 
things  and  wise  ways  and  holy  resolves  strengthen,  stablish,  settle  us  ;  and 
as  for  our  sins,  having  first  seen  them,  may  we  next  see  the  Cross,  and  in 
that  higher  sight  we  shall  lose  the  memory  and  the  sting  of  guilt.  Amen. 


Judges  ii. 


DIVINE  AND  HUMAN  INFLUENCE. 

O  not  trouble  yourselves  about  the  personality  or  name  of 


I  J  this  angel  that  “  came  up  from  Gilgal  to  Bochim.”  He  is 
always  “  coming  up.”  Why  do  we  miss  great  meanings  by 
fastening  upon  little  pedantic  points?  The  angel  charged  the 
people  with  having  broken  God’s  conditions,  upon  which  he 


promised  to  be  with  them  and  keep  his  covenant  with  their 


houses.  That  angel  still  lives.  Now  we  call  him  Memory,  or 
Conscience.  What  is  there  in  the  change  of  name  ?  He  is  an 
angel  still.  He  is  the  wonderful  Presence  in  life  which  takes 
note  of  all  our  goings,  thoughts,  and  doings, — an  invisible,  un¬ 
slumbering  Spirit  that,  so  to  say,  keeps  the  covenant  in  one  hand, 
and  our  life  in  the  other,  and  looks  to  see  how  the  harmony  is 
sustained.  If  now  and  then  the  Spirit  should  turn  from  the 
covenant  and  say  to  the  life,  Think !  you  are  wrong ;  you  are 
out  of  course ;  you  have  lost  step  and  touch  with  Heaven — surely 
we  should  say  the  voice  is  the  voice  of  an  angel ;  it  is  no  common 
rough  tone  of  accusation,  but  an  appeal  spoken  sweetly  to  the 
innermost  heart  and  thought  of  the  man,  and  should  be  answered 


Judg.  ii.  7.]  DIVINE  AND  HUMAN  INFLUENCE. 


325 


according  to  its  own  quality.  Thus  we  get  great  meanings  in  the 
ancient  records.  But  if  we  stand  here  and  ask  questions  about 
angels,  their  history,  their  figure,  the  law  of  their  movements — 
inquiries  to  which  there  can  be  no  possible  answers — we  shall 
feel  ourselves  no  longer  in  a  flowering  garden,  golden  with  the 
richness  of  summer,  but  in  a  burning  and  waste  wilderness. 
Give  the  angel  good  hearing.  Never  arrest  unduly  or  impatiently 
the  voice  of  reproach  and  accusation,  but  answer  it  rationally, 
fearlessly :  if  there  is  nothing  in  the  accusation,  the  answer  will 
be  short  and  easy  ;  but,  contrariwise,  if  the  accusation  is  really 
sound  and  true,  consider  it,  be  not  afraid  of  it,  and  with  reverent 
familiarity  interrogate  it,  apply  it,  and  escape  from  its  honest 
charges  by  better  behaviour. 

The  people  having  heard  the  accusation,  u  lifted  up  their  voice 
and  wept.  And  they  called  the  name  of  that  place  Bochim  ” — a 
place  of  weeping,  a  place  of  many  tears.  So  they  were  not  lost. 
This  is  the  value  of  emotion  :  its  presence  indicates  that  the  heart 
is  not  utterly  dead  to  all  solemn  appeal  and  heavenly  judgment. 
However  fickle  the  life — and  the  best  life  is  fickle — let  us  thank 
God  if  we  can  feel  the  tone  of  accusation,  the  language  of  reproach, 
and  answer  it  even  with  the  feeble  answer  of  tears.  Oftentimes 
tears  are  the  best  words.  Were  we  to  answer  the  accusation 
of  the  angel  with  words,  we  should  get  into  controversy,  and 
controversy  lies  at  an  infinite  distance  from  repentance.  When 
we  lose  speech  we  may  gain  power.  It  is  better  to  bow  down 
the  head  in  silent,  tearful  sorrow,  when  the  accusation  is  poured 
down  upon  us,  than  to  attempt  to  answer  it  by  petty  excuses,  or 
by  inventing  replies  which  are  as  feeble  as  they  are  dishonest. 

So  the  people  cry,  and  begin  again.  They  were  human.  In 
this  respect  we  ourselves  are  of  the  same  race.  Our  days 
represent  but  a  series  of  evil  actions  and  late  repentances.  A 
singular  mixture  is  life  : — prayer,  and  blasphemy ;  high-handed 
rebellion,  and  meek  humiliation  ;  great  vows,  majestic  in  their 
moral  nobleness,  and  lies  of  which  lost  spirits  might  be  ashamed. 

In  the  seventh  verse  we  come  to  a  more  human  aspect  of  the 
exciting  history : — 

“  And  the  people  served  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  Joshua,  and  all  the  days 
of  the  elders  that  outlived  Joshua,  who  had  seen  all  the  great  works  of  the 
Lord,  that  he  did  for  Israel.” 


326 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Judg.ii.7. 


Here  is  a  great  principle — the  principle  that  those  who  have  seen 
God’s  works, — that  is  to  say,  who  have  had  real  experience  of 
them — never  go  wrong ;  not  only  do  they  never  go  wrong  them¬ 
selves,  but  they  keep  other  people  right.  Joshua  and  the  leaders 
who  were  his  contemporaries  and  survivors  “had  seen  all  the 
great  works  of  the  Lord,  that  he  did  for  Israel  ” — not  only  seen 
them  with  the  bodily  eye,  for  many  had  so  seen  them  and  denied 
them,  but  seen  them  with  the  inner  eye,  the  eye  of  faith  and  love 
and  thankfulness.  The  moment  you  get  into  a  generation  that 
has  not  seen  religious  verities,  you  get  into  an  age  of  scepticism 
or  religious  feebleness.  We  cannot  live  upon  tradition ;  we 
cannot  be  courageous  because  of  something  which  happened  to 
other  people :  there  must  be  personal  contact  with  divine 
realities,  an  individual  touch,  a  present  and  indestructible  con¬ 
sciousness  of  God’s  nearness  and  of  the  reality  of  things  ;  then 
there  will  be  courage  and  testimony,  and  service  and  sacrifice. 
The  men  who  have  been  in  slavery  know  the  value  of  freedom. 
To  those  who  have  only  heard  of  slavery  “  by  the  hearing  of  the 
ear,”  freedom  is  a  theme  for  poets, — weave  it  into  song,  beat  it 
into  music,  turn  it  into  picture,  for  the  men  have  only  heard  of 
slavery  as  men  might  hear  of  a  storm  that  gathered  and  burst 
a  thousand  years  ago.  It  is  so  with  religious  persecution.  The 
men  who  have  made  the  nations  great  are  the  men  who  have 
actually  seen  trouble  and  felt  it.  Other  men  are  not  competent 
to  speak  about  them,  and  it  is  impertinence  for  such  men  even 
to  offer  an  opinion  upon  them.  The  men  who  felt  the  pressure 
of  the  steel,  who  paid  blood  as  the  price  of  every  hymn  they 
sang  and  every  prayer  they  prayed,  were  not  likely  to  be  taken 
up  with  new-fangled  notions,  or  to  be  seduced  by  cheap  tempta¬ 
tions  :  they  “had  seen  all  the  great  works  of  the  Lord,  that 
he  did  for  Israel ;  ”  they  did  not,  as  in  romantic  poetry,  pay  the 
blood  of  some  other  man  for  their  liberties,  they  paid  their  own. 
Yet  the  children  of  such  men  will  arise  and  ask  insane  and 
pointless  questions,  and  join  the  posterity  of  the  very  people 
who  slew  their  fathers,  and  dug  their  graves.  Nor  is  this  to  be 
wondered  at.  We  cannot  live  on  the  experience  of  other  people 
for  long.  Whilst  the  exciting  anecdote  is  ringing  in  our  ears 
we  may  make  some  answer  superficially  heroic  :  only  as  we 
suffer  can  we  profess ;  only  as  we  have  seen  can  we  speak ; 


Judg. ii. 7.]  DIVINE  AND  HUMAN  INFLUENCE . 


only  as  prayer  has  been  answered  can  we  vindicate  its  authority 
and  utility.  Marvellous  it  is  to  watch  how  people  deport 
themselves  in  all  these  relations.  There  is  no  hereditary  piety  ; 
there  is  no  hereditary  heroism  :  we  need  to  see  for  ourselves 
before  we  can  speak  with  authoritative  tone  to  others.  That  is 
the  secret  of  authority.  When  the  heart  speaks,  when  the 
sufferer  testifies,  when  the  victim  makes  oath  and  says, — I  saw 
it,  felt  it,  knew  it, — that  is  the  true  authority ;  not  an  announce¬ 
ment  made  in  cold  blood  and  on  the  sunny  side  of  a  successful 
controversy,  but  an  announcement  made  with  the  pathos  of 
personal  suffering  and  with  the  emphasis  of  personal  loss.  It 
is  distressing  and  discouraging  that  people  should  lose  their  own 
history ;  that  sons  and  daughters  of  heroes  should  sink  into 
drivelling  commonplace  ;  that  heroic  fires  should  die  into  white 
ashes.  Every  generation  must  have  its  own  experience,  must 
keep  steadily  along  the  line  of  its  own  facts  :  the  moment  the 
life  fritters  into  words,  controversies,  theories,  and  schemes,  the 
all-sustained  and  all-sanctifying  energy  is  lost. 

What  a  noble  influence  may  be  exerted  by  one  consecrated 
life  !  “The  people  served  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  Joshua.”  We 
have  had  similar  experience.  We  say :  Since  the  leader  died 
the  followers  have  gone  sadly  astray.  Or  we  say :  Had  the 
leader  lived,  it  would  not  have  been  thus ;  he  would  have  kept 
us  together ;  his  gracious  domination  would  have  ruled  us  aright ; 
our  reverence  for  him  amounted  to  a  species  of  religion.  Or  we 
say :  Since  the  just  critic  died  things  have  become  demoralised  ; 
he  was  a  just  judge;  he  was  generous  withal;  he  saw  the  best 
side  of  every  man,  and  took  the  kindliest  view  of  every  subject : 
but  he  was  so  strong,  so  true,  so  honest;  his  voice  was  a  judg¬ 
ment,  his  look  was  an  approbation  or  a  disfavour ;  everything 
about  him  was  of  a  noble,  healthy,  beautiful  kind ;  since  he 
died  there  is  no  judge  in  the  land.  So  we  may  come  by  an 
examination  of  our  own  experience  to  understand  many  of  these 
old  biblical  incidents. 

What  a  compliment  is  this  to  Joshua  !  How  little,  perhaps, 
did  Joshua  know  what  he  was  doing !  If  you  ask  for  a  eulogium 
upon  Joshua,  where  will  you  find  it  ?  Is  it  set  forth  in  any 
special  form  ?  Can  we  turn  to  a  given  page  and  say.  Behold  the 


328 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Judg.ii.8. 


eulogy  spoken  by  the  most  eloquent  lips  of  the  time ;  see  how 
paragraph  follows  paragraph,  how  climax  heightens  above  climax, 
till  the  noble  panegyric  makes  one  feel  how  good  a  thing  it  was 
to  live  in  the  days  of  old  ?  There  is  no  such  page,  there  is  no 
such  eulogy ;  but  read  this  seventh  verse  and  say  whether  it  is 
not  praise  enough  for  any  son  of  man  : — “  And  the  people  served 
the  Lord  all  the  days  of  Joshua.”  That  is  the  only  eulogium 
worth  having :  a  great  social  influence,  a  sublime,  beneficent 
action,  operating  all  the  time  and  upon  everybody,  and  yet  the 
man  himself  saying  little  and  seldom  seen.  There  are  many 
eulogies  :  some  in  noble  words  that  can  only  be  credited  by  the 
imagination  ;  some  in  out-of-the-way  actions  and  silent  deeds  and 
subtle  influences  which  can  only  be  fully  comprehended  by  a 
kindred  spirit — yea,  even  by  God  himself.  Let  us  thank  God 
for  our  leader.  The  father  is  a  Joshua  in  the  family.  So  long 
as  he  lives  there  will  be  no  controversy  amongst  the  children  : 
they  all  love  him,  so  that  one  word  of  his  will  be  final  ;  were 
there  tumult  in  the  house  he  could  by  one  sentence  settle  it, — 
not  by  arbitrary  authority,  but  because  of  something  in  his  quality 
not  to  be  defined  or  measured,  something  that  begets  a  magnifi¬ 
cent  moral  reverence  and  trust.  So  it  is  in  business,  so  in  the 
State,  so  in  the  Church,  so  everywhere.  The  one  true  life  may  be 
keeping  a  thousand  other  lives  in  the  right  direction. 

A  beautiful  picture  is  given  in  the  eighth  verse : — 

“And  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  died,  being  an 
hundred  and  ten  years  old.” 

Was  he  two  men  then?  Yes:  he  was  “the  son  of  Nun” — our 
little  earthly  relations  must  not  be  ignored — he  was  also  “  the 
servant  of  the  Lord  ” — our  great  religious  relations  must  be  re¬ 
garded  with  thankfulness.  A  medal  this  with  two  sides  :  on  the 
one  side  “Joshua  the  son  of  Nun” — some  plain  good  soul  un¬ 
known  to  fame,  but  with  a  sweet  heart,  a  good  honest  mind,  plain 
enough  as  to  his  position  and  manners,  but  great  in  his  greater 
son  ;  on  the  other  side  of  the  medal,  “Joshua  the  servant  of  the 
Lord.”  Realise  all  the  relations  of  life.  The  higher  our  service 
for  the  Lord  the  readier  are  we  to  think  of  the  old  folks  at 
home — the  people  that  thought  of  us,  and  nursed  us,  and  sat  up 
long  nights  with  us,  and  were  strength  to  our  weakness  and 


Judg.ii.8.]  DIVINE  AND  HUMAN  INFLUENCE. 


329 


eyes  to  our  blindness,  and  that  went  near  to  telling  many  lies 
in  describing  our  imaginary  excellences  and  virtues;  people  who 
died  for  us  by  living  for  us ;  the  people  that  saw  themselves  in 
us  magnified  and  glorified.  They  must  not  be  dropped  out  of 
the  reckoning.  The  greater  you  are  the  more  are  you  indebted 
to  those  who  went  before  you.  Then  comes  the  second  and 
greater  and  eternal  title — u  the  servant  of  the  Lord,”  the  slave  of 
God,  the  bondman  of  Christ.  Live  the  complete  life ;  not  only 
the  natural,  physical,  social  life,  but  that  other  and  higher  life 
which  is  indicated  by  the  words  “  the  servant  of  the  Lord.”  How 
few  serve  the  Lord  of  heaven  !  How  many  profess  to  do  so  !  To 
serve  God  is  not  to  assent  to  propositions,  to  attend  a  certain 
place  of  worship,  to  pass  through  a  given  routine  of  ceremony; 
it  is  to  live  in  him,  to  him,  for  him  ;  to  live,  move,  and  have  our 
being  in  God,  to  have  nothing  that  is  not  his,  and  to  do  nothing 
that  he  bids  us  not.  It  is  easy  to  describe  ourselves  as  servants 
of  God ;  it  is  difficult  to  realise  the  sublime  position. 

Joshua  gone.  All  that  generation  gathered  to  their  fathers: — 
u  There  arose  another  generation  after  them,  which  knew  not  the 
Lord,  nor  yet  the  works  which  he  had  done  for  Israel  ” — a  blind 
generation,  utterly  poor,  historically  penniless;  men  without  any¬ 
thing  that  was  more  than  one  day  old.  These  are  the  weights 
which  time  has  to  carry ;  these  are  the  burdens  of  the  ages ; 
these  are  the  men  who  let  history  die.  What  men  should  we 
be  if  we  realised  our  history  !  Could  we  see  the  past  as  it 
ought  to  be  seen,  it  would  be  like  a  cloud  of  spirits,  a  great  army 
of  angels,  a  sky  shaded  rather  than  darkened  by  heroic  spirits, 
master  souls  that  ruled  their  time.  The  other  generation  is 
always  coming — the  poor,  penniless  generation,  the  non-related 
generation  ;  the  generation  that  thinks  every  man  a  separate  atom, 
or  individual  without  any  relation  to  the  sum-total  of  things, — 
this  is  the  generation  that  loses  religion.  Why  ?  Because 
religion  is  historical.  Religion  binds  man  fast  to  the  past. 
Religion  does  not  incline  itself  towards  the  future  in  some 
selfishly  expectant  attitude ;  it  lies  back  upon  the  past,  and  by 
the  past  seizes  the  future.  We  should  be  ashamed  of  some 
people — the  people  that  talk  mincingly,  vain-gloriously,  with 
affectation,  with  superficiality,  who  look  upon  life  as  a  thing 


330 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Judg.  ii.  n-14. 


begun  yesterday,  and  to  be  enjoyed  to-day,  and  left  to-morrow ; 
they  make  us  sore  of  heart ;  we  feel  poor  in  their  presence ; 
they  have  not  seen  “  the  great  works  of  the  Lord  ;  ”  they  have 
not  bowed  down  to  some  worthy  leadership  and  accepted  its 
discipline  and  chastisement ;  they  have  influence  only  for  a 
moment  because  they  speak  of  things  that  endure  but  for  a 
moment.  Let  us  pray  for  the  preservation  of  heroic  memories. 
Let  us  remember  that  we  never  could  have  had  a  Bible  to  read 
if  some  men  had  not  printed  it  as  with  their  blood  and  bbund  it 
with  their  martyrdom.  Let  us  think  that  we  could  not  meet 
in  many  a  Protestant  church  if  there  had  not  been  men  who 
counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto  them  that  they  might  stand 
up  for  liberty  and  defy  the  whole  brood  of  hell.  Now  we 
ask  little  questions  about  things  that  our  fathers  died  for  !  We 
now  use  the  liberty  they  bought  to  praise  the  very  tyranny 
which  killed  them. 

So  the  generations  come  and  go  : — 

“  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  served 
Baalim  :  And  they  forsook  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  which  brought 
them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  followed  other  gods,  of  the  gods  of 
the  people  that  were  round  about  them,  and  bowed  themselves  unto  them, 
and  provoked  the  Lord  to  anger.  And  they  forsook  the  Lord,  and  served 
Baal  and  Ashtaroth  ”  (vv.  II-13). 

These  are  the  incredible  incidents  of  history ;  these  are  the 
fables  we  should  laugh  at  if  we  did  not  know  them  to  be  true 
in  our  own  experience  !  The  people  “  followed  other  gods,”  “  the 
gods  of  the  people  that  were  round  about  them  ” — the  fashionable 
gods,  the  popular  deities,  the  little  divinities  that  ruled  the  little 
time.  Beware  of  all  visible  gods.  Beware  of  any  god  that  can 
be  known.  We  accept  the  reproach  of  God’s  unknowableness, 
because  to  know  God  would  be  to  be  God. 

How  did  the  Lord  answer  them  ?  Lie  could  not  answer  them 
in  words.  There  are  times  when  words  are  useless.  The  answer 
is  in  the  fourteenth  verse  : — 

u  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  hot  against  Israel,  and  he  delivered 
them  into  the  hands  of  spoilers  that  spoiled  them,  and  he  sold  them  into 
the  hands  of  their  enemies  round  about,  so  that  they  could  not  any  longer 
stand  before  their  enemies.” 


Judg.ii.  1 4.]  DIVINE  AND  HUMAN  INFLUENCE.  331 


He  took  the  pith  out  of  them  ;  he  watered  down  their  muscle 
until  it  became  flabby  ;  he  confused  their  minds  until  they  reeled 
at  noonday  and  stumbled  like  drunken  men ;  he  set  all  heaven 
on  fire  against  them  ;  the  horizon  burned  them,  scorched  them, 
and  they  withered  away:  they  who  might  have  been  the  foremost 
princes  crouched  behind,  they  who  might  have  worn  white  robes 
were  lying  crushed  in  the  dust.  God’s  anger  was  hot  against 
them,  and  it  will  be  hot  against  any  corresponding  generation  in 
the  wc  d.  Forsake  God,  take  up  with  idols,  follow  the  fashions, 
yield  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  forsake  prayer,  and  regard  the 
Bible  as  only  some  ancient  document,  and  your  business  will 
leave  you,  your  fields  will  not  yield  half  their  increase,  the 
enemy  will  laugh  at  you.  They  who  forsake  the  altar  shall  be 
forsaken  of  God.  It  is  a  covenant  that  binds  us,  and  a  covenant 
with  two  sides  :  to  trifle  with  it  on  the  human  side  is  to  have 
judgment  poured  down  through  it  from  the  divine  side.  O  lands 
of  the  earth,  O  peoples  of  the  day  and  of  every  clime,  if  you 
would  have  plentiful  harvest-fields,  thriving  businesses,  happy 
homes,  joyous  times,  forget  not  the  living  God.  “  Let  the  people 
praise  thee,  O  God  ;  let  all  the  people  praise  thee.  Then  shall 
the  earth  yield  her  increase” — a  bountiful  harvest  shall  follow  in 
the  wake  of  a  praying,  active,  sacrificing  Church. 


SELECTED  NOTE. 

-  And  they  called  the  name  of  that  place  Bochim  ”  (Judg.  ii.  5). — Bochim  ( the 
weepings)  was  the  name  given  to  a  place  (probably  near  Shiloh,  where  the 
tabernacle  then  was)  where  an  “  angel  of  the  Lord  ”  reproved  the  assembled 
Israelites  for  their  disobedience  in  making  leagues  with  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land,  and  for  their  remissness  in  taking  possession  of  their  heritage. 
This  caused  the  bitter  weeping  among  the  people  for  which  the  place  took 
its  name. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  thou  hast  heard  the  prayers  of  thy  saints,  and  answered 
them  with  great  love.  We  ourselves  know  this,  and  our  hope  in  God  is  as 
a  strong  trust.  We  know  when  we  have  prayed  unto  thee,  because  the 
answer  is  in  our  hearts  whilst  we  are  yet  speaking.  We  know  the  heavenly 
Presence ;  we  can  tell  when  we  have  reached  thy  throne  :  behold,  thou 
dost  come  to  us  and  turn  our  prayers  into  sweet  replies  in  the  very  act  of 
offering  our  supplications  at  thy  throne.  We  are  thankful  as  we  look  back 
upon  the  years  that  are  gone.  We  will  think  of  thy  mercy,  and  not  of  our 
sin ;  we  will  dwell  upon  the  lovingkindness  of  God,  and  not  upon  the 
rebellion  of  our  own  hearts.  The  years  have  been  full  of  thy  mercies ;  thy 
compassions  glitter  in  them  like  jewels :  thou  truly  hast  been  good  unto 
Israel,  even  to  them  that  are  of  a  clean  heart ;  and  thou  hast  also  been  kind 
unto  the  unthankful  and  to  the  evil :  whilst  thy  rain  and  thy  sunshine  have 
fallen  upon  the  good,  they  have  not  been  withheld  from  the  unjust.  We 
look  onward  with  hope.  Thou  wilt  not  forsake  us  in  the  seventh  trouble  ; 
thou  wilt  redeem  thy  covenant  to  its  utmost  letter,  yea,  thou  wilt  add  to  it 
and  exceedingly  multiply  thy  grace  towards  us.  Keep  us  in  the  holy  way  ; 
show  us  the  sanctuary  that  is  on  high,  and  may  our  hearts  desire  to  be  in  it 
night  and  day ;  may  we  measure  all  things  by  its  weights  and  balances  and 
standards :  then  shall  we  know  when  we  are  right  and  when  God  is  pleased. 
Give  us  to  see  more  and  more  of  the  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  Son  of 
man,  Son  of  God.  He  was  the  express  image  of  his  Father,  the  very 
brightness  of  his  glory.  May  we  study  his  words  profitably,  lovingly, 
seeking  out  their  meaning  with  earnest  hearts  and  receiving  the  same  in  all 
its  fulness.  We  commend  one  another  to  thy  tender  care.  Thou  knowest 
what  we  need  most — in  ourselves,  in  our  houses,  in  our  businesses.  Thou 
knowest  the  serpent  that  is  pleading  with  us,  telling  us  the  lies  we  like  to 
hear.  Thou  knowest  the  weak  point  in  the  character,  where  the  assault 
tells  most  immediately  and  most  disastrously.  Thou  knowest  every  trap 
set  for  our  feet,  and  gin  and  snare,  cunningly  laid,  that  we  may  be  taken 
and  overthrown.  We  know  nothing  about  it  ourselves.  We  look  on,  and 
see  nothing  but  a  great  cloud.  We  will  therefore  trust  in  the  living  God, 
putting  our  hand  into  his  and  asking  to  be  led  and  directed  and  sustained  by 
the  eternal  Spirit.  Whether  our  days  be  many  or  few,  may  they  be  bright 
with  thy  presence,  and  wealthy  with  honest  and  good  service.  Where 
there  is  a  difference  between  man  and  man,  oh  heal  the  controversy  and 
restore  the  love ;  where  there  is  difficulty  at  home,  dissolve  the  perplexity ; 
where  there  is  sorrow  because  of  the  family — wandering,  unfilial,  broken — 
speak  some  new  parable  that  shall  bring  the  wanderers  all  back  again,  or 


Judg.  iii.  9-1 1.] 


OTHNIEL . 


333 


the  old  parable,  but  with  the  sweetness  of  a  new  tone.  Be  with  those  who 
are  in  trouble  on  the  sea — that  great,  weary,  unfriendly,  threatening  sea. 
Be  with  those  who  are  in  deeper  trouble — the  trouble  of  mind  and  heart, 
who  are  suffering  from  the  sting  of  accusation  and  remorse,  and  the 
bitterness  of  just  reproach; — yea,  according  to  our  varied  necessity  do  thou 
come  to  us,  and  love  us,  and  heal  us,  and  do  us  good. 

We  pray  every  prayer  at  the  Cross,  and  we  feel  it  not  to  be  a  prayer  until 
we  have  spoken  the  crowning  name  of  Jesus — Jesus  Christ — Immanuel — - 
God  with  us.  Amen. 

Judges  iii.  9-11. 

9.  And  when  the  children  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord,  the  Lord  raised  up 
a  deliverer  to  the  children  of  Israel,  who  delivered  them,  even  Othniel  the 
son  of  Kenaz,  Caleb’s  younger  brother. 

10.  And  the  Spirit  of  th£  Lord  came  upon  him,  and  he  judged  Israel,  and 
went  out  to  war  :  and  the  Lord  delivered  Chushan-rishathaim  king  of  Mesopo¬ 
tamia  into  his  hand ;  and  his  hand  prevailed  against  Chushan-rishathaim. 

11.  And  the  land  had  rest  forty  years.  And  Othniel  the  son  of  Kenaz 
died. 


OTHNIEL. 

A  GREAT  prayer  marks  a  historical  point  in  the  life  of  any 
man  or  any  people.  We  know  when  we  have  prayed.  The 
people  who  ask  questions  in  a  controversial  tone  about  prayer 
never  prayed  themselves,  and  so  long  as  they  are  in  that  spirit 
they  cannot  pray.  This  exercise  is  not  to  be  explained  to  out¬ 
siders  ;  this  is  an  inner  n^stery.  The  publican  knew  that  he  had 
prayed  when  he  said,  u  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.”  He 
needed  not  to  ask  any  man  whether  a  prayer  had  been  offered, 
for  he  himself,  the  contrite  suppliant,  had  the  answer  in  his  heart 
before  the  last  word  escaped  his  lips.  We  are  dull  indeed  if  we 
do  not  know  when  we  have  struck  a  full  chord.  Something  in  us 
says,  That  is  right.  We  have  uttered  many  words,  and  at  the 
end  we  have  said,  That  is  not  prayer  ;  the  words  are  devout,  the 
phrases  are  devotional,  they  would  read  well  in  print,  some  good 
spirits  might  turn  them  into  prayer,  but  we  who  uttered  them 
did  not  pray.  Why  then  debate  about  this  matter,  or  talk  about 
it  as  if  it  were  subject  for  analysis  and  definition  and  formal  treat¬ 
ment  of  any  kind  ?  We  know  when  we  have  touched  the  hem 
of  Christ’s  garment  by  the  healing  that  instantly  takes  place  in 
the  spirit.  Answers  in  detail  may  require  long  time  to  work  out, 
but  the  great  answer  is  in  the  healed  heart,  the  comforted  soul, 
the  quieted  and  resigned  spirit.  Other  replies  there  may  or  may 


/ 


334 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Judg.  iii.  9-11. 


not  be, — all  these  must  be  left :  the  great  answer  to  prayer  is  an 
answer  to  the  soul  which  the  soul  only  can  hear  and  apply. 

“When  the  children  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord” — an  ener¬ 
getic  term  is  that — “  cried.”  It  was  a  piercing  shout  of  the  heart. 
The  words  did  not  come  out  of  the  mouth  only  ;  they  were 
hardly  in  the  mouth  at  all ;  they  shot  from  the  heart  within — the 
burning,  lowly,  broken  heart.  We  know  a  cry  when  we  hear 
it  or  when  we  utter  it ;  there  is  fire  in  it,  a  touch  of  immortality, 
a  strange  ghostliness.  Truly  in  such  case  the  voice  is  the  man, 
the  tone  is  the  prayer.  There  are  calls  to  which  we  pay  no  heed. 
We  say  they  are  calls  expressive  of  merriment  or  folly,  or  intended 
to  play  upon  our  credulity;  we  know  them  to  be  hollow  and 
meaningless  ;  but  there  are  cries  we  must  answer,  or  get  some¬ 
body  else  to  answer :  they  come  so  suddenly,  they  strike  the 
very  soul  so  truly,  there  is  so  much  of  real  earnestness  in  them, 
that  if  we  ourselves  are  frightened  by  their  energy  we  tell  the 
next  person  we  meet  where  the  trouble  is,  where  sorrow  cries 
for  help,  where  weakness  pleads  for  assistance.  You  cannot  talk 
about  prayer  in  cold  blood.  This  is  not  a  subject  to  be  discussed 
in  current  conversation,  passing  along  the  thoroughfare,  or  upon 
some  quiet  occasion  :  you  have  dragged  the  subject  to  a  base 
level ;  you  are  speaking  about  it  as  if  you  were  masters  of  the 
situation  :  you  can  only  speak  about  prayer  whilst  you  are  praying, 
and  then  you  will  never  speak  about  it  controversially  but 
sympathetically  and  confirmingly ;  and  when  the  heart  has  really 
cried — that  sharp  cry  which  cuts  the  clouds — you  will  know  that 
the  heart  in  its  agony  has  touched  God’s  love.  Turn  away,  then, 
from  those  who  would  make  prayer  a  matter  of  controversy  and 
inquiry  and  analysis  and  vivisection  ;  it  is  not  to  be  so  treated  ;  it 
is  a  secret  masonry  with  a  password  all  its  own  between  the  soul 
and  the  soul’s  God. 

The  prayer  was  answered  : — “The  Lord  raised  up  a  deliverer.” 
The  answer  came  in  a  human  form.  That  is  a  remarkable  cir¬ 
cumstance.  The  answer  might  have  come  otherwise ;  but  God 
delights  in  incarnations.  He  aims  at  something  in  all  these  human 
leaderships  ;  he  is  conducting  a  process  of  evolution.  Many  a  man 
bearing  the  title  of  Leader  has  come  before  us,  and  each  has,  so 
far  as  he  has  been  faithful  to  his  vocation,  been  an  incarnation 


Judg.  iii.  9-1 1.] 


OTHNIEL. 


335 


of  God’s  thought  and  purpose  and  will.  The  matter  cannot  end 
here.  All  these  are  temporary  incarnations,  but  charged  with 
infinite  suggestiveness,  and  always  leading  the  mind  to  higher 
expectation — subtler,  deeper  yearnings  for  some  broader  and 
brighter  disclosure  of  the  divine  personality.  But  we  must  not 
anticipate.  The  Bible  is  given  to  us  in  pages,  and  every  page 
must  be  read,  and  there  must  be  no  vain  haste.  This  is  still 
God’s  method,  to  answer  by  incarnation.  A  friend  is  sent  who 
has  the  key  of  the  gate  which  you  cannot  open  ;  a  brother  is  met 
who  speaks  the  word  your  poor  heart  most  needed  to  hear ;  an 
occasion  is  created  suddenly  or  unconsciously,  and  it  shapes  itself 
into  a  temple,  becomes  a  holy  sanctuary,  a  sphere  of  radiant 
revelation.  This  is  what  we  mean  by  providence.  Why  has 
not  every  man  an  equal  influence  over  us  ?  Because  every  man 
is  not  sent  to  our  life  with  a  special  message.  There  are  men 
who  can  sing,  there  are  men  who  can  preach,  there  are  men  who 
can  read  the  Bible  and  read  it  as  it  were  into  inspiration  as  to 
its  influence  upon  the  hearer, — these  Othniels  are  God’s  creations  ; 
in  a  sense, — God’s  presence,  divine  incarnations. 

✓ 

11  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon  him.”  There  is  no 
mistaking  that  Spirit.  It  was  not  an  awakening  of  anything  that 
was  in  the  man  himself,  but  a  descent  from  heaven  of  the 
Supreme  Influence.  Othniel,  a  common  man  yesterday  to  all 
observation,  is  to-day  an  inspired  man,  “  a  little  lower  than  God.” 
As  a  consequence  the  man  was  not  vainglorious.  No  inspired 
man  can  be  conceited.  He  does  not  know  that  he  is  great.  He 
knows  that  he  is  the  instrument  of  God.  The  most  inspired 
of  men  have  said,  "We  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels, 
that  the  excellenc}^  of  the  power  may  be  of  God,  and  not  of 
us.”  Inspiration  means  modesty ;  genius  means  retirement, 
self-obliviousness,  disregard  of  circumstance  or  applause.  The 
inspired  life  is  the  unconscious  life.  To  us  who  look  on,  the 
inspired  man  is  great,  wonderful, — we  cannot  understand  the 
miracle ;  to  himself  he  is  but  a  child  in  God’s  house,  quite  a 
little  one,  hardly  able  to  walk,  asking  questions  by  his  looks  of 
wonder,  praying  himself  into  ever-deepening  lowliness.  The 
poet  does  not  know  that  he  is  a  poet  in  the  sense  which  is 
applauded  by  those  who  understand  not  his  spirit ;  he  breathes 


336 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Judg.  iii.  9-1 1. 


his  poetry.  Paul  breathed  his  Christianity ;  to  him  to  live 
was  Christ,  to  breathe  was  to  pray,  to  look  was  to  rejoice.  We 
shall  know  when  the  Church  is  inspired  by  its  lowliness.  Find 
men  who  are  fretful,  peevish,  always  susceptible  to  offence, 
complaining  men,  u  ill-used  ”  men ;  and  you  will  find  men  who 
know  nothing  about  the  Spirit  of  Christ :  their  money  perish  with 
them  ;  their  patronage  would  be  a  great  shadow  laid  upon  the 
Church.  The  Church  must  be  healthy  in  her  goodness,  mighty 
in  her  inspiration.  Othniel  could  not  communicate  his  power. 
Inspiration  is  not  an  article  of  barter.  Nor  could  Othniel  keep 
his  inspiration  without  conditions.  Everything  we  have  we 
hold  upon  certain  understandings  of  an  eternal  kind  :  they  need 
not  be  expressed ;  they  are  unwritten,  but  indelible ;  they  cannot 
be  seen  with  the  eyes,  nor  can  they  be  blotted  out  by  the  hand  : 
they  belong  to  the  necessity  of  things,  the  fitness  and  harmony  of 
the  universe.  Whatever  we  hold  we  hold  upon  our  good  behaviour. 
We  are  tenants  at  will.  The  greatest  Othniel  in  the  Church 
would  be  cast  out  of  heaven  if  he  allowed  his  purity  to  be 
spotted,  his  honour  to  be  stained,  his  stewardship  to  be  tampered 
with.  Not  one  of  us  is  essential  to  God.  The  first  archangel 
holds  his  mighty  wings  on  his  good  behaviour  :  let  him  lie,  or 
touch  the  forbidden  tree,  and  his  great  wings  would  fall  power¬ 
less,  his  eye  would  be  smitten  with  death.  11  Once  inspired 
ahvays  inspired  ”  is  no  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures.  We  stand  or 
fall  by  our  spiritual  relation  to  the  divine.  “  Let  him  that 
thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall ;  ”  and  let  the  chief 
of  the  apostles  keep  himself  in  constant  check  lest  when  his 
mightiest  discourse  is  ended  he  himself  become  a  castaway. 
We  live  in  character.  Our  immortality — blissful,  heavenly — is 
in  our  relation  to  Christ.  We  have  no  independence,  no  charter 
entitling  us  to  invent  a  morality  of  our  own  ;  we  are  measured 
by  eternal  standards,  we  are  judged  in  the  court  of  the  Infinite 
Righteousness. 

Othniel  had  a  special  work  to  do  :  he  was  raised  up  to  deliver 
Israel,  to  destroy  the  power  of  the  king  of  Mesopotamia  ;  and 
having  done  that  work  he  died.  When  shall  we  come  to  know 
that  every  man  is  called  to  one  work,  particularly  if  not 
exclusively  ? 

Herein  do  we  not  judge  one  another  harshly  and  unjustly  ? 


Judg.  iii.  9-1 1.] 


OTHNIEL. 


337 


The  work  of  Othniel  was  not  a  manifold  work ;  he  was  not  a 
multitudinous  genius,  able  to  see  behind  and  before,  on  the  right 
and  on  the  left,  and  to  be  equally  strong  by  day  and  by  night ;  he 
was  not  so  much  a  statesman  as  a  deliverer ;  he  was  mighty  in 
war,  he  might  be  but  second  in  counsel.  Each  man,  therefore, 
must  find  out  his  own  faculty,  and  be  just  to  it;  if  he  fail  in  dis¬ 
covering  it,  then  he  will  be  unjust  to  his  true  self.  If  you  are 
aiming  to  be  some  other  self,  you  will  fail  and  be  unfaithful  to  God’s 
purpose.  One  man  is  sent  to  do  business,  to  show  how  business 
ought  to  be  done,  to  make  commerce  a  religion.  Another  man  is 
sent  to  sing,  to  make  us  glad,  to  show  us  by  tones  that  there  must 
be  some  other  world — to  touch  our  highest  sensibilities  and  move 
our  noblest  impulses,  and  comfort  us  in  our  distresses  and  make 
new  stars  for  the  darkness  of  the  night ;  let  him  keep  his  singing 
robes  on,  rising  high  up  in  the  sky  so  that  everybody  may  hear 
him  and  answer  him  with  electric  joy :  he  has  a  great  vocation, 
has  that  singing  man  ;  he  helps  even  the  commerce  of  the  world. 
Another  man  is  sent  to  pray.  He  must  live  upon  his  knees. 
He  knows  how  to  speak  human  want  in  human  words.  He 
never  says  one  word  too  much,  never  one  word  too  little ;  he 
knows  the  measure  of  the  sorrow,  he  knows  where  the  burden 
presses  most  heavily,  he  knows  where  the  heart’s  sore  is  most 
painful ;  and  his  is  surely  a  holy  vocation.  Let  him  keep  at  the 
altar ;  never  let  him  rise  from  his  posture  of  prayer.  He  will 
do  us  good,  and  not  evil.  He,  too,  though  seemingly  so  far  away 
from  the  world’s  real  strife,  is  helping  the  world  in  its  most 
prosaic  servitude.  When  the  Church  acknowledges  this  doctrine, 
the  Church  will  receive  more  from  her  leaders,  teachers,  and 
supporters.  We  must  not  live  a  divided  life  :  u  This  one  thing 
I  do  ”  must  be  the  motto  of  every  man.  Nor  must  there  be 
judgment  of  one  another,  saying,  You  should  do  this,  or  do  that 

Let  alone  !  Touch  not  the  prerogative  of  God  ! 

\ 

We,  too,  needed  a  deliverer.  We  had  given  up  the  idea  of 
self-emancipation.  Once  we  thought  we  could  break  our  own 
manacles  and  fetters,  and  set  ourselves  free,  and  sing  the  songs 
of  liberty.  We  tried,  we  tried  often,  we  all  tried, — we  failed, 
we  all  failed.  When  there  was  no  eye  to  pity  and  no  arm  to 
save,  God’s  eye  pitied  and  God’s  arm  wrought  salvation.  “  Who 


VOL.  v. 


22 


338 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Judg.  iii.  9-11. 


is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah  ? 
this  that  is  glorious  in  his  apparel,  travelling  in  the  greatness  of 
his  strength  ?  I  that  speak  in  righteousness,  mighty  to  save.” 
It  is  the  joy  of  the  Christian  Church  to  believe  that  there  is 
only  one  Redeemer,  one  Lord,  one  Christ,  one  Advocate,  one 
Paraclete.  This  is  the  gospel.  This  is  the  good  news  itself. 
When  we  preach  it,  we  shatter  all  idols  of  a  selfish  kind  ;  we 
say  to  Invention,  to  Genius,  You  are  of  no  use  here  :  you  cannot 
break  a  link,  you  cannot  shed  a  light  upon  this  infinite  gloom. 
Preaching  Christ,  we  denounce  all  other  helpers  and  deliverers, 
except  in  some  secondary  and  related  capacity.  There  is  one 
Son  of  God ;  there  is  one  Cross  ;  there  is  one  atonement ;  there 
is  but  one  hope.  We  read  history,  and  recognise  deliverers, 
and  are  thankful  when  they  appear,  and  we  doubt  not  the 
reality  of  their  deliverances  :  why  should  we  in  the  presence  of 
Jesus  Christ  forget  to  adore  and  forget  to  trust  ?  They  who 
have  known  most  about  Christ  have  most  to  say  in  his  favour. 
Those  who  have  not  known  Christ  are  not  asked  for  their 
opinion  about  him.  We  do  not  ask  the  blind  to  pronounce 
upon  colours,  or  seek  from  the  deaf  a  criticism  upon  music : 
Christians  alone  can  testify  in  this  court,  and  their  evidence 
is  conclusive  because  it  is  sustained  by  character  and  can  be 
tested  and  appreciated.  Who  is  looking  for  a  deliverer  ?  let 
him  turn  his  eyes  to  the  Son  of  God.  Who  is  saying  in  the 
bitterness  of  his  soul,  “  O,  that  I  might  be  saved  from  this 
horrible  distress  and  delivered  from  this  unfathomable  abyss  ”  ? 
let  him  turn  his  eyes  to  the  Son  of  God.  Who  is  mourning  sin, 
having  felt  its  bitterness  and  seen  its  abominableness  ?  let 
him  turn  his  eyes  to  the  Son  of  God.  He  came  to  deliver, 
to  emancipate,  to  save  :  (t  this  Man  receiveth  sinners.”  He  is 
aoie  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto  God  by  him. 
Let  us  feel  this,  believe  this,  and  commit  our  souls  unto  Christ 
as  unto  a  faithful  Creator. 


Judges  iii.  15. 


“  But  when  the  children  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord,  the  Lord  raised  them 
up  a  deliverer,  Ehud  the  son  of  Gera,  a  Benjamite,  a  man  lefthanded  :  and 
by  him  the  children  of  Israel  sent  a  present  unto  Eglon  the  king  of  Moab.” 


EHUD. 


DELIVERER  with  a  lefthand  seems  to  be  a  contradiction  in 


±  jl  terms  or  a  piece  of  practical  irony.  The  Divine  Being,  in 
sending  Ehud  in  reply  to  the  cry  of  the  children  of  Israel,  seems 
to  mock  the  very  prayer  which  he  answers.  Such  a  reply  is  full 
of  subtle  suggestion,  to  the  effect  that  the  Israelites  really  need 
not  have  made  such  a  cry  about  their  circumstances,  because  even 
in  their  forlorn  condition  a  iefthanded  man  would  show  himself 
to  be  equal  to  the  occasion.  When  we  pray  to  God  for  help  it  is 
with  some  idea  that  an  angel  will  be  sent,  and  that  all  Heaven’s 
artillery  will  be  placed  at  our  disposal  that  we  may  resist  or  destroy 
the  foe.  Instead  of  an  angel  there  comes  a  man  with  a  lefthand, 
or  as  he  is  elsewhere  called  an  “  ambidexter  ” — that  is,  a  man 
who  can  use  both  hands  with  equal  ease.  Has  not  God  continu¬ 
ally  disappointed  the  expectation  of  people  in  the  matter  of 
leadership  ?  Again  and  again  it  appears  in  sacred  history  as  if 
the  leader  were  altogether  unlikely  to  accomplish  his  task  either 
by  reason  of  bodily  infirmity  or  mental  incapacity.  What  was 
Moses  but  a  stammering  shepherd  ?  And  was  not  Christ  himself 
regarded  with  disdain  because  of  the  lowliness  of  his  origin  ? 
Between  these  two  great  captaincies  a  number  of  others  will  be 
found  illustrative  of  the  same  principle. 

On  the  matter  of  lefthandedness  we  are  reminded  of  the  boast  of 
Hector :  “  Many  a  Greek  hath  bled  by  me,  and  I  can  shift  my 
shield  from  right  to  left.”  In  another  part  of  the  book  of  Judges 
we  read  respecting  the  children  of  Benjamin  :  “Among  all  this 
people  there  were  seven  hundred  chosen  men  lefthanded  ;  every 


340 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE . 


[Jiidg.  iii.  15. 


one  could  sling  stones  at  an  hair  breadth,  and  not  miss.”  Plato 
recommended  all  his  soldiers  to  acquire  equal  facility  in  the  use 
of  both  hands,  but  these  very  references  show  that  lefthandedness 
is  quite  a  peculiarity.  We  do  not  remark  upon  a  man  that  he  has 
the  use  of  his  right  hand,  that  he  writes  with  it,  points  with  it,  or 
performs  the  usual  duties  of  life  with  it ;  but  when  a  man  is  left- 
handed  the  incident  instantly  strikes  us  as  a  peculiarity.  All 
these  peculiarities  are  noticed  in  the  Bible.  We  have  already 
seen  that  men  were  known  in  many  instances  by  little  circum¬ 
stances  or  trifling  peculiarities.  All  such  identifications  lead  us 
to  the  great  consolatory  doctrine  that  the  very  hairs  of  our  head 
are  all  numbered.  All  kinds  of  men  are  made  use  of  in  the  Bible. 
There  is  no  peculiarity,  however  strange,  that  may  not  be  used  as 
an  instrument  for  the  promotion  of  truth  and  goodness,  or  the 
defence  of  right  and  weakness.  No  man  should  be  discouraged 
because  of  his  peculiarities,  for  in  truth  though  in  some  re¬ 
spects  his  weakness,  they  may  in  other  respects  be  his  strength. 
It  has  been  noticed  by  close  observers  of  human  affairs  that  almost 
every  cripple  is  endowed  with  some  speciality  of  power  which 
gives  him  pre-eminence  among  his  fellows.  What  he  wants  in 
dignity  he  may  make  up  in  skill.  The  very  infirmity  which  drives 
him  into  solitude  may  be  the  occasion  of  his  acquiring  richer 
learning,  or  training  his  insight  to  profounder  and  clearer  views 
of  providence  and  humanity.  Men  ought  not  therefore  to  be 
discouraged  because  of  peculiarities  however  striking. 

Does  not  the  text  throw  us  back  upon  the  oft-recurring 
doctrine  that  the  many  may  be  dependent  upon  the  one  ?  All 
the  ciphers  are  turned  into  value  by  the  single  unit  that  is 
placed  at  their  head.  Without  that  unit  they  would  be  simply 
nothing,  but  with  that  unit  they  become  millions  strong.  The 
children  of  Israel  were  many,  even  a  great  host,  numerous  enough 
to  turn  their  desires  into  a  great  noise  which  they  dignified  by 
the  name  of  prayer.  Why  then  did  the}7  not  work  out  their 
own  deliverance  ?  Have  we  not  been  wrong  on  this  subject  of 
majorities  ?  Is  there  not  a  quality  as  well  as  a  quantity  to  be 
considered  in  estimating  human  influence  ?  Eglon,  king  of 
Moab,  had  oppressed  Israel,  yet  as  soon  as  Ehud  was  raised  up 
their  liberation  was  effected,  and  the  sorrows  and  burdens  of 


Judg.  iii.  15.] 


EHUD . 


34i 


eighteen  years  were  forgotten  when  the  deliverer  appeared  upon 
the  scene.  There  is  unquestionably  a  philosophy  of  monopoly 
in  the  matter  of  human  influence.  One  man  keeps  the  key  of 
secrets.  Another  man  speaks  the  word  which  inspires  the 
courage  of  dejected  hearts.  Another  man  is  blessed  with  far¬ 
sightedness  and  can  see  the  very  spectre  of  deliverance  when  it 
first  appears  upon  the  distant  horizon.  Another  man  has  such 
richness  of  character  as  to  be  a  tower  of  strength  in  the  day  of 
shaking  and  desolation.  One  man  may  be  in  a  better  position 
than  a  great  number  of  men  can  possibly  be.  The  individual 
moves  rapidly  from  place  to  place ;  he  can  move  noiselessly ;  he 
can  take  his  own  time  for  the  making  of  certain  observations ; 
above  all  things,  he  can  keep  his  own  counsel ;  for  who  does  not 
know  that  whispering  is  the  ruin  of  confidence  and  the  very  anni¬ 
hilation  of  strength  ?  The  Ehuds  of  society  find  that  their  power 
lies  in  their  individuality.  They  know  the  difference  between 
leading  the  crowd  and  consulting  it.  In  all  great  leaderships  con¬ 
sultation  must  be  a  kind  of  compliment  and  in  no  wise  a  necessity. 
At  a  critical  point  in  important  affairs  it  is  the  one  man  who  must 
decide  the  course  of  the  journey  or  the  policy  of  the  battle.  Is  it 
then  altogether  well  with  the  great  man  ?  Probably  not.  We 
see  his  greatness  and  admire  his  elevation  and  wonder  about  his 
gifts,  but  we  forget  that  all  high  qualities  bring  with  them  severe 
taxation,  and  that  power  is  the  measure  of  responsibility.  It  may 
be  that  to  obey  is  easier  than  to  direct  Certainly  the  respon¬ 
sibility  is  of  a  higher  grade.  Beyond  all  question  he  who  cannot 
obey  cannot  rule.  The  men  pray  for  a  deliverer,  and  a  deliverer 
is  given  in  answer  to  prayer ;  their  business  should  be  to  receive 
the  deliverer,  hold  him  in  honour,  obey  his  commandments, 
and  do  all  that  within  them  lies  to  consolidate  his  power.  All 
this  is  true  in  merely  political  directions.  The  great  statesman 
keeps  his  party  together.  The  great  professor  unites  and  glorifies 
the  university.  The  brilliant  commander  makes  his  army  as 
the  heart  of  one  man.  But  these  are  exceptional  cases  and  can 
hardly  be  quoted  for  daily  purposes.  There  is,  however,  a  truth 
in  connection  with  this  doctrine  that  is  constantly  available  in  all 
the  practical  conditions  of  life,  and  that  truth  is  that  the  good 
man  who  is  also  wise  may  command  a  deep  and  gracious 
influence  in  social  affairs.  Goodness  is  always  influential ;  not 


3  42 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE.  [Judg.  iii.  15. 


necessarily  in  the  sense  of  continuousness,  without  break  or  inter¬ 
ruption,  for  there  are  times  when  goodness  itself  is  silenced,  but 
always  in  the  sense  of  appearing  at  critical  times  and  under 
circumstances  which  give  its  word  infinite  weight  and  conse¬ 
quence.  In  illustration  of  this,  read  the  account  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  of  a  shipwreck,  in  which  Paul  took  command  of  all  things 
and  was  more  than  captain.  “  By  the  blessing  of  the  upright  the 
city  is  exalted  :  but  it  is  overthrown  by  the  mouth  of  the  wicked.” 
Covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts. 

We  are  very  dainty  about  our  instruments.  In  this  matter  we 
have  committed  the  most  mischievous  errors  in  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  Church  affairs  and  the  appointment  of  spiritual  ministries. 
Who  ever  prayed  God  to  send  a  lefthanded  man  to  save  the 
country  ?  Who  has  not  been  disappointed  when  a  lefthanded 
man  actually  came  and  said  he  had  been  sent  to  do  the  work? 
The  prayers  which  the  Church  sends  to  heaven  for  ministers  are 
prayers  in  many  instances  which  the  Divine  Being  can  only 
reject  with  contempt.  Our  prayer  asks  that  God  would  send  into 
the  Christian  ministry  men  of  great  intellectual  capacity,  men  of 
burning  eloquence,  men  capable  of  receiving  the  highest  educa¬ 
tional  culture,  men  able  to  address  the  most  gifted  classes  of 
society  ;  what  is  all  this  but  dictating  to  God  or  making  our  own 
conception  of  the  situation  the  measure  of  God’s  bounty  ?  All 
such  prayers  are  impertinences.  The  consolation  is  that  God 
pays  no  heed  to  them  but  sends  the  kind  of  men  who  can  do  the 
work  after  his  own  will  and  in  defiance  of  many  preconceptions 
on  the  part  of  men.  Let  us  pray  God  to  make  his  own  choice, 
to  send  whom  he  will — king  cr  peasant,  man  of  stammering 
tongue  or  eloquent  speech  ;  he  must  choose  the  labourers,  and 
thrust  them  forth  into  his  own  harvest.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  a  man  is  necessarily  an  Ehud  simply  because  he  is  left- 
handed.  In  this  direction  our  thoughts  need  to  be  continually 
guarded.  We  may  see  the  lefthandedness  and  generalise  too 
broadly  concerning  it.  The  peculiarity  must  have  something 
behind  it,  for  in  itself  it  is  nothing.  We  must  not  reason  that 
because  Ehud  was  lefthanded  every  lefthanded  man  is  an  Ehud. 
Bunyan  was  a  tinker,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  every  tinker  is  a 
Bunyan.  There  is  a  danger  of  mistaking  an  eccentricity  for  a 


Judg.  iii.  15.] 


EHUD. 


343 


law  and  setting  up  false  or  inadequate  standards  of  judgment. 
Moses  stammered  or  was  of  slow  speech.  It  does  not  follow  that 
every  stutterer  is  a  Moses.  Do  not  magnify  the  peculiarity,  and 
certainly  do  not  disdain  it.  We  say  about  some  men  that  appear¬ 
ances  are  not  in  their  favour.  Were  appearances  in  favour  of 
this  lefthanded  man  ?  We  imagine  that  we  show  our  sagacity 
by  discovering  in  a  candidate  for  favour  some  littleness  or  in¬ 
firmity  or  awkwardness  which  disentitles  him  to  confidence. 
“  Look  not  on  the  height  of  his  stature,” — “Man  looketh  on  the 
outward  appearance,  but  the  Lord  looketh  on  the  heart.”  Paul 
was  aware  that  his  bodily  presence  was  weak  and  his  speech 
contemptible,  at  least  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  looked  upon 
him  with  evil  eyes.  The  great  instance  is  of  course  always  to  be 
found  in  the  Son  of  God  himself.  He  had  no  form  nor  comeli¬ 
ness,  and  there  was  no  beauty  that  men  should  desire  him.  He 
was  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground.  He  took  upon  him  the  form 
of  a  servant  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  man.  Like  the 
psalmist  he  was  “a  reproach  of  men,  and  despised  of  the  people.” 
Thus  we  are  brought  again  to  the  great  doctrine  which  he 
himself  laid  down  :  “  Judge  not  according  to  the  appearance,  but 
judge  righteous  judgment.” 


SELECTED  NOTE. 

Ehud,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  was  one  of  the  “judges”  of  Israel,  or 
rather  of  that  part  of  Israel  which  he  delivered  from  the  dominion  of  the 
Moabites  by  the  assassination  of  their  king  Eglon.  These  were  the  tribes 
beyond  the  Jordan,  and  the  southern  tribes  on  this  side  the  river.  Ehud 
obtained  access  to  Eglon  as  the  bearer  of  tribute  from  the  subjugated  tribes, 
and  being  lefthanded,  or  rather  ambidextrous,  he  was  enabled  to  use  with 
a  sure  and  fatal  aim  a  dagger  concealed  under  a  part  of  his  dress,  where  it 
was  unsuspected,  because  it  would  there  have  been  useless  to  a  person 
employing  his  right  hand.  The  Israelites  continued  to  enjoy  for  eighty 
years  the  independence  obtained  through  this  deed  of  Ehud  (Judg.  iii. 
15-30)- 


Judges  iii,  31. 

"  And  alter  him  was  Shamgar  the  son  of  Anath,  which  slew  of  the  Philis¬ 
tines  six  hundred  men  with  an  ox  goad  :  and  he  also  delivered  Israel.” 

SHAMGAR. 

SHAMGAR  was  the  third  judge  in  Israel.  He  was  at  the 
beginning  a  labouring  man,  a  tiller  of  the  ground,  and  it  is 
thought  that  on  account  of  the  exploit  recorded  of  him  in  the  text 
he  was  raised  to  dignity.  According  to  the  Song  of  Deborah 
(Judges  v.  6)  life  was  very  insecure  at  that  time  : — “  In  the  days 
of  Shamgar  the  son  of  Anath,  in  the  days  of  Jael,  the  highways 
were  unoccupied,  and  the  travellers  walked  through  byways.” 
What  is  termed  an  u  ox  goad  ”  in  the  text  is  literally  11  a  thing  to 
teach  oxen.”  Ox  goads  have  ahvays  been  regarded  as  formidable 
instruments  Some  eight  feet  long  and  pointed  with  a  strong,  sharp 
iron  head.  The  Thracian  king  Lycurgus  is  said  to  have  chased 
the  Bacchanals  with  an  ox  goad.  According  to  Ellicott’s  Bible — 
“  The  Athenians  in  their  painting  of  Marathon  represent  the 
gigantic  rustic  Echetlus,  who  was  supposed  to  have  slain  so  many 
Persians  with  his  ploughshare.”  A  traveller  who  had  seen  Eastern 
ploughing  thus  writes:  “It  was  observable  that  in  ploughing 
they  used  goads  of  an  extraordinary  size ;  upon  measuring  several 
I  found  them  about  eight  feet  long,  and  at  the  bigger  end  six 
inches  in  circumference.  They  were  armed  at  the  lesser  end 
with  a  sharp  prickle  for  driving  the  oxen,  and  at  the  other  end 
with  a  small  spade  or  paddle  of  iron,  strong  and  massy,  for 
cleansing  the  plough  from  the  clay  which  encumbers  it  in  work¬ 
ing.”  Shamgar  was  working  in  the  field  with  one  of  those  goads 
when  six  hundred  Philistines  made  their  appearance  but  so 
vigorously  did  he  wield  it  that  not  a  man  of  the  whole  crowd 
escaped  with  his  life.  According  to  the  authority  already  quoted, 
“  it  has  been  most  needlessly  assumed  that  he  slew  them  single- 


Judg.  iii.31.] 


SHAMGAR. 


345 


handed,  and  not,  as  is  probable,  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  peasants 
armed  with  the  same  rude  weapons  as  himself  ....  But  the 
question  here  is  merely  one  of  interpretation,  and  nothing  is 
more  common  in  Scripture,  as  in  all  literature,  than  to  say  that 
a  leader  personally  did  what  was  done  under  his  leadership.” 

One  of  the  most  obvious  lessons  deducible  from  this  incident  is 
that  we  should  not  complain  of  our  tools  when  we  have  hard 
work  to  do.  When  the  work  is  done  badly  we  are  apt  to  blame 
the  tools.  Shamgar  used  an  ox  goad  ;  Samson  wielded  the  jaw¬ 
bone  of  an  ass  ;  David  had  but  a  sling  and  stone.  Sometimes  we 
think  what  wonders  we  should  do  if  we  had  better  instruments. 
The  bad  writer  blames  his  pen.  The  unskilful  carver  grumbles 
at  his  knife.  The  unsuccessful  preacher  says  that  he  could  do 
better  if  his  church  were  in  a  better  locality,  or  if  some  rearrange¬ 
ment  of  woodwork  could  be  made.  Who  ever  blames  himself 
for  failure  ?  Or  even  if  blaming  himself,  who  does  not  suggest 
that  he  could  have  done  much  better  if  the  tools  had  been  more 
distinctly  adapted  to  the  service  he  had  to  accomplish  ?  Our 
success  in  the  great  battles  of  life  depends  more  upon  spirit, 
intelligence,  devotedness,  and  enthusiasm,  than  upon  merely 
mechanical  arrangements.  What  is  a  feeble  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  one  man. is  a  mighty  instrument  in  the  hands  of  another, 
simply  because  the  spirit  of  that  other  burns  with  holy  determi¬ 
nation  to  accomplish  the  work  that  has  to  be  done.  There  is  one 
thing  which  ought  to  be  noticed  with  special  care,  the  proper 
noticing  of  which  will  greatly  enlarge  the  charitableness  of  our 
social  judgments ;  namely,  men  should  work  with  those  instru¬ 
ments  which  they  can  handle  most  skilfully.  Shamgar  knew 
how  to  use  the  ox  goad,  and  David  knew  how  to  use  the  sling 
and  stone.  Other  instruments  may  be  far  heavier,  keener,  and 
likelier  altogether,  but  if  we  are  not  accustomed  to  them  why 
should  we  run  the  risk  of  a  failure  ?  Men  are  strong  in  propor¬ 
tion  as  they  keep  within  the  circle  of  their  own  tried  ability  and 
experience.  The  instrument  may  be  the  grandest  in  the  world, 
but  if  we  do  not  know  how  to  handle  it  we  can  accomplish 
infinitely  better  results  with  instruments  which  expose  them¬ 
selves  to  the  contempt  of  advanced  civilisation.  There  are 
preachers  who  could  do  incalculable  good  if  they  would  confine 


346 


THE  PEOPLE1  S  BIBLE. 


[Judg.  iii.31. 


themselves  to  the  subjects  which  they  understand  and  to  language 
which  is  spoken  by  the  people  whom  they  address.  The  moment 
such  preachers  begin  to  talk  finely  they  lose  all  their  ease  and 
power,  and  stumble  like  men  who  are  endeavouring  to  speak  in  a 
foreign  tongue.  How  foolish  it  would  be  to  ridicule  the  instru¬ 
ment  when  the  results  are  so  obviously  good  !  Look  at  the  six 
hundred  dead  men  ;  look  at  the  slain  giant ;  look  at  the  prostrate 
walls  of  Jericho.  The  rule  applies  to  every  department  of  life. 
Why  set  up  some  arbitrary  standard  of  judgment  when  the 
results  are  open  to  scrutiny  and  estimate  ?  This  rule  should  be 
applied  to  preaching.  Why  say  that  the  sermons  are  not  skil¬ 
fully  proportioned  or  expressed  according  to  the  usages  of  the 
schools,  and  therefore  are  not  valuable  sermons,  when  sinners 
are  being  converted  and  believers  are  being  edified  through  their 
instrumentality?  Let  the  result  determine  everything.  Whilst 
military  critics  might  be  unfavourably  criticising  the  ox  goad, 
Shamgar  was  standing  rejoicingly  over  six  hundred  defeated 
foes.  This  is  the  best  answer  of  the  Church  to  unfriendly 
criticism.  When  souls  are  converted,  when  households  are 
reconstructed,  when  lives  are  inspired  and  encouraged,  when 
clouds  of  distress  and  fear  are  driven  away,  the  Church  may  well 
point  to  such  results  and  be  stirred  to  multiplied  efforts  rather  than 
be  deterred  by  the  criticism  of  men  who  pay  more  attention  to 
instruments  than  to  results.  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of 
this  world  to  throw  down  the  things  that  are  mighty.  We  are 
not  called  upon  to  defend  this  divine  method ;  it  is  enough 
for  us  to  know  that  it  is  God’s  way,  and  to  accept  it  and  obey  it 
with  loving  thankfulness.  “Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but 
by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.”  “  All  this  assembly  shall 
know  that  the  Lord  saveth  not  with  sword  and  spear :  for 
the  battle  is  the  Lord’s.”  He  who  fights  for  the  right  has  God 
upon  his  side.  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?  The 
army  on  the  other  side  is  but  a  multitude  of  shadows  ;  one  ray 
of  light  from  the  rising  sun  shall  disperse  the  host  of  emptiness. 
What  meaner  instrument  can  there  be  than  the  Cross  of  Christ  ? 
Hath  it  not  pleased  God,  by  the  foolishness  of  the  thing  that  is 
preached,  to  save  them  that  Relieve  ?  Were  not  Peter  and 
John  accounted  unlearned  and  ignorant  men?  Are  not  the 
highest  things  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  revealed 


Judg.  iii.31.] 


SHAMGAR. 


347 


unto  babes  ?  Such  is  the  way  of  God,  that  no  flesh  should 
glory  in  his  presence.  All  these  thoughts  are  necessary  to 
comfort  the  earnest  worker  against  the  pitiful  criticism  which 
is  directed  against  Christian  service.  There  are  men  so  skilled 
in  the  use  of  bitter  words  that  they  might  even  discourage 
Shamgar  himself  by  dwelling  upon  the  ugliness  and  the  un¬ 
wieldiness  of  the  weapon  which  he  used.  They  might  laugh 
him  into  a  kind  of  shame.  The  thing  to  be  done  is  to  point 
men  to  the  results  which  they  have  been  enabled  to  secure, 
and  to  ask  them  to  trust  the  instruments  which  have  served 
them  in  good  stead  in  the  day  of  opposition  and  conflict. 
David  said  concerning  the  sword  of  Goliath — “  Give  me  that ; 
there  is  none  like  it.”  Do  not  easily  give  up  tried  methods, 
proved  instruments,  machineries  and  utilities  which  have  been 
of  service  in  the  time  of  war.  The  same  rule  applies  to 
trusty  comradeships.  We  fight  better  in  the  society  of  some 
men  than  we  could  do  in  the  society  of  others  :  we  know  their 
voices  in  the  dark  :  we  know  their  touch  even  when  they  do 
not  say  a  word  to  us :  we  can  depend  upon  them  when  the 
strain  is  greatest.  New  methods  should  be  well  studied  in 
secret  before  they  are  tried  in  public,  or  they  may  bring  their 
patrons  to  disappointment  and  chagrin.  The  Cross  of  Christ 
will  stand  when  all  things  fail.  Let  us  be  determined  to  know 
nothing  among  men  but  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.  God 
forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  Cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Our  speech  and  our  preaching  should  not  be  with 
enticing  words  of  man’s  wisdom  but  with  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit  and  with  power.  The  instrument  indeed  is  mean  enough. 
To  the  Jews  it  is  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolish¬ 
ness  ;  nevertheless  it  works  its  daily  miracles  and  finds  in 
renewed  hearts  and  brightened  lives  the  only  needful  proof  of  its 
divinity  and  sanction. 


PRAYER. 


Almighty  God,  thy  word  is  full  of  love.  It  draws  us  towards  thee  with  a 
sweet  compulsion.  It  is  a  word  of  grace,  of  light,  of  pity,  and  tenderness. 
Thy  word  knows  us ;  it  is  familiar  with  our  nature,  and  all  the  mystery 
thereof,  and  it  speaks  to  us  in  music,  in  thunder,  in  judgment,  in  sharp 
exhortation,  and  in  tender  consolation ;  it  is  in  very  deed  a  wondrous  word, 
coming  all  the  way  from  heaven,  and  yet  touching  our  hearts  as  the  light 
touches  the  flower.  We  bless  thee  for  thy  word,  for  thy  house,  and  for 
everything  that  is  specially  thine.  We  know  that  all  things  are  thine  :  but 
some  things  seem  to  be  twice  thine,  specially  and  wholly  thine — the  Lord’s 
Day,  the  Lord’s  Book,  the  Lord’s  Portion,  the  Lord’s  own  Spirit.  Take  not 
thy  Holy  Spirit  from  us  !  May  it  abide  with  us — a  sun  that  never  sets,  a 
gracious  presence  that  never  tires,  a  gift  that  grows  by  giving.  We  bless 
thee  for  all  the  love  we  have  seen  in  all  the  way  of  life.  The  way  of  life  has 
been  made  beautiful  by  thy  love;  even  the  uphill  parts  have  been  rendered 
quite  easy  because  of  thy  sustaining  grace  ;  and  the  winding  ways  and  the 
dark  valleys  have  not  been  so  fearsome  when  we  have  come  to  them, 
because  thou  didst  go  before  us  and  prepare  a  path.  Thy  comforts  have 
been  our  strength  ;  thy  grace  has  been  our  sun  and  our  shield,  and  we  have 
good  hope  of  heaven.  We  pray  thee  to  regard  us  as  sinners,  and  have  pity 
upon  us,  yea,  mercy — saving  pity  and  redeeming  mercy,  such  as  we  have 
seen  in  Christ  Jesus  thy  Son,  bleeding,  dying,  rising,  praying  for  us.  If  thou 
hast  freely  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  thou  wilt  with  him  also  freely  give 
us  all  things ;  so  we  shall  have  no  necessity  ;  we  shall  carry  no  burden, 
because,  though  the  weight  be  great,  the  strength  shall  be  more  than  equal 
to  it.  Let  the  whole  year  be  a  new  year — new  in  thought,  new  in  resolve, 
and  new  in  sacrifice:  thus  shall  the  years  not  take  away  from  our  strength, 
but  add  to  it,  and  make  us  younger  as  they  fly,  because  bringing  us  nearer 
to  the  land  where  there  is  no  sin,  no  death.  Be  this  our  good  hope  in 
Christ  Jesus ;  in  this  hope  may  we  stand  together  as  Christian  students  and 
worshippers,  growing  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Let  our  prayer  prevail  in  heaven ;  let  us  have  the  answer  hidden  in 
our  heart,  a  secret  treasure,  a  great,  yea,  an  infinite  prize.  Amen. 

Judges  iv.,  v. 

DEBORAH  AND  HER  SONG. 


THE  fourth  and  fifth  chapters  bring  into  view  quite  a  host 
of  secondary  characters,  such  as  Jabin  and  his  chief 
captain,  Sisera;  Deborah  and  Barak  ;  Heber,  and  Jael  his  wife; 


Judg.  iv.,v.]  DEBORAH  AND  HER  SONG. 


349 


and  in  the  great  song  of  triumph  and  judgment  names  come  and 
go  with  flashes  of  colour  full  of  history  and  criticism.  Some¬ 
times  we  are  told  of  a  song  that  the  words  are  nothing — the  tune 
is  everything.  That  may  be  a  happy  circumstance  as  regards 
some  songs,  but  that  criticism  has  no  place  in  reference  to  the 
Song  of  Deborah ;  it  is  all  words,  all  thoughts,  all  spiritual  music. 
This  song  has  in  it  something  more  than  tune.  If  we  do  not 
know  the  words  we  shall  never  understand  the  music.  Poor  is 
the  singing  in  which  you  cannot  hear  every  word  ;  it  is  then  but 
a  performance,  it  is  but  a  vocal  trick  ;  we  must  hear  every  word, 
every  syllable,  every  sentiment,  and  judge  whether  the  music 
is  worthy  of  the  great  intellectual  conception.  It  is  so  with  the 
Song  of  Deborah.  We  shall  find  in  it  words  as  well  as  tune. 
Jabin,  king  of  Canaan,  had  held  Israel  in  oppression  twenty 
years.  Jabin  had  resources  which  astounded  people  who  lived 
in  the  hill  country.  Among  the  mountains  chariots  were  no  use; 
the  bow  and  arrow  were  everything,  but  the  chariot  could  not 
be  driven  over  a  craggy  steep  or  unfathomable  abyss.  Jabin 
had  nine  hundred  chariots  of  iron,  and  he  made  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon  tremble  as  they  rolled  along.  People  who  peeped 
down  out  of  the  crags,  and  saw  the  nine  hundred  chariots  rolling 
in  the  plain  of  Jezreel,  thought  Jabin  a  mighty  king,  and  obeyed 
his  behest  with  meekest  submission.  Do  not  blame  Jabin  for 
oppressing  the  children  of  Israel  twenty  years.  Jabin  did  not 
begin  the  oppression.  Do  not  let  us  ruin  ourselves  by  looking 
at  second  causes,  and  pouring  out  our  denunciations  upon  the 
king  of  Razor  in  Canaan.  He,  like  many  other  poor  kings,  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it  except  instrumentally.  There  is  but  one 
King.  It  pleases  us  to  call  men  kings  and  rulers,  but  there  is 
only  one  sovereignty ;  the  Lord  reigneth,  and  there  is  room  for 
none  other ;  his  throne  fills  the  universe,  and  his  kingdom 
ruleth  over  all.  Jabin  was  an  unconscious  minister  of  God. 
Many  men  occupy  that  relation  to  Heaven  who  are  not  aware  of 
it.  The  Lord  has  many  servants  at  his  threshold  :  he  maketh 
the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him;  he  finds  music  in  strange  places, 
and  brings  all  kinds  of  instruments  into  the  band  that  plays  the 
music  of  his  purpose.  No  doubt,  Jabin  thought  himself  a  great 
man  over  Israel — lord  and  ruler  and  oppressor.  Probably  he 
counted  Israel  among  his  riches  ;  in  adding  up  his  little  store  he 


350 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Judg.  iv.,v. 


put  Israel  down  at  a  plain  price,  and  said,  “  Israel  is  mine,  and 
is  worth  so  much  in  the  coming  and  going  of  things.”  He  did 
not  know  what  he  was  talking  about.  The  reason  why  Jabin 
had  anything  to  do  with  Israel  was  that  Israel  had  done  “  evil  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord  ”  (iv.  i).  It  is  putting  the  case  too  lightly 
to  say  that  Israel  “  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.”  That 
might  have  been  a  first  offence,  and  twenty  years’  penal  servi¬ 
tude  under  a  king  without  a  harp,  was  a  heavy  sentence  for  a 
first  violation.  But  we  have  missed  the  explanatory  word. 
Blow  often  we  do  this  in  reading  the  Scriptures !  How  prone  we 
are  to  leave  out  the  key-word,  and  thus  create  confusion  for 
ourselves  !  The  text  literally  reads,  “  And  the  children  of  Israel 
again  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.”  How  great  the  emphasis 
which  ought  to  be  laid  upon  the  word  “  again  ”  !  It  may  not 
mean  a  second  time  or  a  third  time  ;  it  may  be  the  thousandth 
time  for  aught  the  word  “ again”  says  to  the  contrary.  Israel 
did  evil  upon  evil,  as  if  building  a  black  temple  with  black  stones, 
and  purposing  to  consecrate  it  to  the  service  of  the  devil. 
Twenty  years’  servitude  was  a  small  penalty.  God  did  not  plead 
against  Israel  with  his  great  power  when  he  sentenced  Israel  to 
this  period  of  oppression  and  sorrow.  How  readily  we  look 
at  the  oppression  and  forget  the  sin  !  This  is  characteristic 
of  human  nature.  We  pity  the  sorrow  ;  we  would  even  count 
the  tears  of  human  distress,  and  make  a  great  number  of  them, 
and  turn  that  number  into  a  plea  for  Heaven’s  mercy.  We 
are  wrong.  We  have  started  the  argument  from  the  wrong  end  ; 
the  point  of  view  is  false ;  the  perspective  is  out  of  line  :  the 
whole  vision  suffers  from  wrong  drawing  and  colouring.  We 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  oppression.  We  must  look  at 
causes.  We  must  say, — How  did  this  come  to  pass  ?  and  in 
answering  that  inquiry  we  shall  vindicate  Eternal  Providence, 
and  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men.  We  are  moved  more  by 
the  oppression  than  by  the  sin.  That  is  a  test  of  our  own 
spiritual  quality.  Men  are  more  frequently  annoyed  than  they 
are  wronged.  Many  men  suffer  more  from  an  assault  made 
upon  their  self-conceit  than  an  assault  made  upon  the  proofs  of 
eternal  righteousness.  Hence  men  resent  what  are  termed 
personalities,  whilst  they  look  benignantly,  if  not  approvingly, 
upon  sin  in  the  abstract — violated  law  that  hurts  the  vanity  of  no 


Judg.  iv.,v.]  DEBORAH  AND  HER  SONG. 


35i 


man.  All  this  is  indicative  of  character.  Here  we  see  what  Sin 
really  is.  It  binds  the  sinner  to  his  outrages  against  God ;  it 
endeavours  to  modify  its  own  force  and  gravity,  and  it  seeks  to 
turn  attention  to  outside  matters,  accidents,  passing  phases,  and 
temporary  troubles.  Were  we  of  God’s  mind  and  of  Christ’s 
heart  we  should  dwell  upon  the  evil,  the  evil  twice  done  and 
twice  repeated,  and  continued  until  it  has  become  a  custom — a 
custom  so  established  that  the  repetition  of  it  brings  with  it  no 
new  sensation.  But  we  will  look  at  accidents  and  circumstances, 
rather  than  probe  into  real  causes,  profound  and  true  origins. 

A  new  period  dawned  in  Israel.  Deborah  the  wife  of  Lapidoth 
was  judge.  Great  questions  are  settled  by  events.  There  was 
no  inquiry  as  to  whether  it  was  meet  that  a  woman  should  be  a 
judge.  Israel  needed  a  mother,  and  Deborah  was  a  mother  in 
Israel.  If  we  make  questions  of  these  subjects,  we  shall  enter¬ 
tain  one  another  with  wordy  controversies  :  but  when  the  true 
Deborah  comes,  she  comes  of  right,  and  sits  a  queen,  without  a 
word.  There  is  a  fitness  of  things — a  subtle  and  unchangeable 
harmony — and  when  its  conditions  are  satisfied,  the  satisfaction 
is  attested  by  a  great  content  of  soul.  As  Deborah  sat  under  her 
palm-tree  in  Mount  Ephraim,  no  man  said  :  Why  are  we  judged 
by  a  woman  ?  The  answer  was  in  her  eyes  :  she  looked  divine; 
the  vindication  was  in  her  judgment :  when  she  spake,  the  spirit 
of  wisdom  seemed  to  approve  every  tone  of  her  voice.  There 
is  a  spirit  in  man :  he  knows  when  the  right  judge  is  upon  the 
bench  ;  the  poorest  listener  can  tell  when  he  is  in  the  presence 
of  Justice;  the  unsophisticated  heart  knows  when  attempts  are 
being  made  to  quibble  and  wriggle  and  misrepresent,  and  to 
.  substitute  the  jingle  of  words  for  the  music  of  righteousness. 
The  people  came  up  to  the  famous  old  palm-tree,  and  told  their 
tale  to  Deborah  day  by  day,  until  the  motherly  heart  began  to 
ache,  and  her  trouble  was  very  great.  She  saw,  as  motherly 
eyes  only  can  see,  how  the  wrinkles  were  deepening,  how  the 
faces  were  not  so  plump  as  they  used  to  be,  how  strong  men 
were  bending  under  invisible  burdens.  She  said  :  By  the  help 
of  Heaven  we  will  see  more  clearly  into  this.  A  hundred  miles 
away  in  the  north  there  lived  a  man,  Barak  by  name — “  Barak,” 
which  is,  by  interpretation,  “the  lightning” — and  on  Barak 


352 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Judg.  iv.,  v. 


Deborah  fixed  her  heart  as  on  the  hope  of  Israel.  She  sent  for 
him;  but  he  said  No.  She  said  in  effect,  You  must  come.  But 
he  said  in  reply,  You  do  not  know  the  case  as  a  soldier  knows 
it;  Jabin  has  nine  hundred  chariots  of  iron,  and  the  plain  of 
Jezreel  seems  to  have  been  made  into  a  way  on  purpose  for 
them  to  roll  in;  if  it  were  Jabin  only,  I  might  attempt  the  task, 
but  think  of  nine  hundred  chariots  of  iron  !  Deborah  said,  You 
must  come,  for  the  time  has  arrived  ;  Heaven’s  hour  of  deliver¬ 
ance  has  struck ;  and  I  look  to  you  to  espouse  the  cause  of  Israel. 
Barak  said,  No,  I  cannot,  except  on  one  condition.  Deborah 
said,  Name  your  terms ;  what  are  they  ?  Then  replied  Barak, 
My  terms  are  that  you  go  along  with  me.  Instantly  she  said,  I 
am  ready  to  go.  And  Deborah,  a  mother  in  Israel,  became 
the  soldier  of  Israel,  and  Barak  was  her  humble  servant.  The 
news  soon  spread.  Sisera  was  on  the  alert.  This  was  the  very 
thing  he  had  been  longing  for.  When  a  man  has  nine  hundred 
chariots  of  iron  he  wants  something  for  them  to  do.  Kings  who 
have  standing  armies  are  bound  to  create  occasions  of  war ; 
hence  the  injustice,  the  turpitude,  the  hellishness  of  battle. 
Sisera  was  the  chief  captain,  and  the  nine  hundred  chariots  of 
iron  were  under  his  direction,  and  he  said,  Now  Esdraelon  shall 
tremble  under  this  weight  of  iron,  and  Israel  shall  be  crushed  as 
a  fly  upon  a  wheel.  “  Why  do  the  heathen  rage,  and  the  people 
imagine  a  vain  thing?  The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves,  and 
the  rulers  take  counsel  together,  against  the  Lord,  and  against  his 
anointed,  saying,  Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder,  and  cast  away 
their  cords  from  us.  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh  ” 
at  them,  and  laugh  again  at  their  chariots,  though  they  be  iron  in 
quality  and  nine  hundred  in  number.  The  chariots  of  the  Lord 
are  twenty  thousand,  yea,  thousand  of  thousands.  The  battle  is 
the  Lord’s,  not  ours.  But  the  Lord  will  not  loose  his  chariots  upon 
Jabin  and  his  nine  hundred  curricles.  There  is  a  river  on  the  field 
of  battle,  Kishon  by  name,  quite  a  little  silver  threadlet  in  summer, 
but  soon  swollen  by  tributaries  from  the  hills  ;  and  a  river  once 
getting  charge  of  a  plain  makes  swift  work  in  its  progress.  The 
rains  had  fallen,  all  the  hills  seemed  to  pour  out  their  treasures 
of  water,  the  stream  expanded,  the  water  burst  and  flowed  over 
the  plain,  and  the  nine  hundred  could  not  move.  They  were 
overcome  by  water  !  Kishon  was  more  than  all  Jabin’s  iron 


Judg.  iv.,v.]  DEBORAH  AND  HER  SONG. 


353 


host.  Then  came  awful  doings — men  slaying  one  another.  As 
for  Sisera,  the  captain  of  all  the  iron  chariots,  he  fled — ran  away 
like  a  hound  that  had  seen  a  tiger,  and  pantingly  he  came  to  a 
woman’s  tent,  and  said  to  Jael,  the  wife  of  Heber  the  Canaanite, 
Can  you  give  me  shelter?  What  are  nine  hundred  chariots 
when  the  Lord  is  against  them  ?  What  are  all  the  chariots  of 
the  earth  as  against  the  sea  ?  They  could  be  sunk  in  the 
Atlantic,  and  the  great  ocean  not  know  that  they  had  descended 
to  its  depths.  Jael  said,  Come  in.  And  Sisera  went  in  to  come 
out  no  more.  “  The  mother  of  Sisera  looked  out  at  a  window, 
and  cried  through  the  lattice,  Why  is  my  son’s  chariot  so  long  in 
coming  ?  why  tarry  the  wheels  of  his  chariots  ?  ”  At  that 
moment  Sisera  was  lying  in  the  tent  of  Jael  with  an  iron  nail 
through  his  head.  Sisera  had  chariots  of  iron — Jael  had  but 
one  nail,  but  the  hammer  must  have  been  God’s.  ‘There  is  no 
defence  of  Jael’s  conduct.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  our  morality,  it 
was  base  in  and  out — bad,  corrupt,  horrible.  As  she  walks 
softly,  the  softlier,  the  deadlier,  and  takes  the  nail  and  the 
hammer,  she  is  the  picture  of  incarnate  depravity.  This  we  say, 
unless  there  be  some  law  which  takes  up  all  our  laws  and  moves 
them  into  greater  meanings  through  infinite  orbits.  There  are 
greater  laws  that  take  up  all  our  local  movements  and  relations, 
and  set  them  in  new  attitudes  and  invest  them  with  new  values  ; 
but  of  these  laws  we  know  nothing,  and  it  is  right  that  we  should 
speak  frankly  about  the  ancient  morality  as  represented  in  the 
action  of  Jael,  and  that  Christian  teachers  should  condemn  it 
within  the  limits  which  are  known  to  them.  A  woman  began 
the  war  and  a  woman  ended  it,  judging  by  the  literal  history. 
The  inspiration  of  deliverance  was  a  divine  inspiration.  Wher¬ 
ever  there  is  a  movement  towards  freedom,  that  movement  began 
in  heaven.  Wherever  any  oppressed  man,  conscious  of  his  sin 
and  penitent  for  it,  lifts  himself  up  in  an  attitude  of  independence 
and  looks  his  oppressor  in  the  face  with  a  calm  determination  to 
be  free,  there  is  a  distinctively  divine  act.  God  is  the  God  of 
liberty.  He  permits  slavery  or  uses  it,  and  may  sanctify  the  use 
to  higher  issues  and  advantages ;  but  beneath  the  oppression, 
below  all  the  trouble,  there  is  that  spirit  which  is  akin  to  his 
own,  which  asserts  itself  and  says  : — I  cannot  always  live  under 
this  cloud,  or  carry  this  weary  load ;  I  will  be  free.  When  such 

23 


VOL.  V. 


354 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BIBLE. 


[Jiidg.  iv.,v. 


a  word  is  spoken  reverently,  solemnly,  honestly,  it  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  the  living  voice  of  the  living  God. 

Now  Deborah  sings.  She  seems  almost  to  excel  Moses  in 
song.  There  is  hardly  such  a  piece  of  composition  in  all  known 
literature.  It  has  everything  in  it.  This  is  a  manifold  song. 
Some  persons  have  points  of  power,  individual  faculties  of 
notable  strength  ;  but  this  woman  seems  to  have  all  human 
faculties,  and  all  human  faculties  in  their  largest  proportions. 
She  praises  the  people  for  their  willing  offering  of  themselves 
(v.  2).  She  recognised  the  spontaneous  action  of  the  people ; 
they  wanted  to  be  free.  She  also  regards  kings  as  occupying 
a  subordinate  position  : — “  Hear,  O  ye  kings  ;  give  ear,  O  ye 
princes  ”  (v.  3).  They  had  to  receive  the  news,  not  to  create  the 
event ;  they  had  to  hear  of  it  next  day,  not  to  plan  it  the  day 
before.  Who  can  tell  the  ways  of  Providence  ?  God  setteth  up 
the  poor  amongst  princes,  he  plungeth  the  princes  down  into 
meanest  places ;  the  first  shall  be  last,  and  the  last  shall  be  first. 
God  shall  have  the  record  and  the  register  written,  and  rewritten 
and  redistributed,  so  there  shall  be  no  vanity  in  Israel,  no  conceit 
in  the  hosts  of  Christ.  There  is,  too,  a  tone  of  judgment  in  the 
song.  Deborah  could  not  forget  who  had  forsaken  her  on  the 
day  of  trial.  She  said  :  Reuben  was  not  there — “  For  the  divisions 
of  Reuben  there  were  great  thoughts  of  heart.”  Reuben  abode 
among  the  sheepfolds,  and  listened  to  the  bleating  of  the  flocks, 
and  let  the  woman  go  out  alone  to  fight  the  chariots  of  Jabin. 
“  For  the  divisions  of  Reuben  there  were  great  searchings  of 
heart.”  Gilead  was  not  with  me;  he  “abode  beyond  Jordan”: 
Dan  was  not  with  me;  he  “remained  in  ships”:  Asher  got 
behind  the  creeks-  and  the  crags,  and  peeped  out'  and  then  with¬ 
drew  :  “Zebulun  and  Naphtali  were  a  people  that.jeoparded  their 
lives  unto  the  death  in  the  high  places  of  the  field.”  So  Deborah 
makes  mention  of  severe  troubles  even  in  the  roll  of  her  triumphal 
song.  She  did  not  confuse  things.  She  was  not  so  lost  in  en¬ 
thusiasm  and  transport,  as  to  forget  whether  Reuben  was  present, 
and  Gilead  and  Dan  ;  nor  did  she  neglect  Zebulun  and  Naphtali. 
This  woman’s  song  is  reason  set  to  music,  judgment  in  rapture 
— yea,  say  in  rhapsody,  but  judgment  still,  awarding  to  the  good 
that  which  is  good,  to  the  evil  that  which  they  deserve,  and  thus 
setting  forth  in  song  a  picture  of  the  ultimate  and  final  judgment. 


Judg.  iv.,v.]  DEBORAH  AND  HER  SONG . 


355 


Meroz  was  cursed  even  in  song.  Why  ?  Meroz  was  in  the  heart 
of  the  country  ;  Meroz  might  have  struck  the  first  blow,  and  Meroz 
did  nothing : — u  Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the  angel  of  the  Lord, 
curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof;  because  they  came  not 
to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty.” 
The  Lord  might  have  been  torn  to  pieces  for  aught  that  Meroz 
did.  The  winding  up  of  all  things  shall  be  a  great  song,  a 
triumphant  burst  of  music ;  but  moral  distinctions  will  not  be 
forgotten  in  those  jubilant  strains.  Then  it  will  be  known  who 
did  his  duty,  who  remained  at  home,  who  was  content  with 
criticism,  and  who  hazarded  his  life  that  his  Christ  might  be 
made  more  widely  known. 


SELECTED  NOTE. 

The  song  of  triumph  which  was  composed  in  consequence  of  the  great 
victory  over  Sisera,  is  said  to  have  been  “  sung  by  Deborah  and  Barak.” 
It  is  usually  regarded  as  the  composition  of  Deborah,  and  was  probably 
indited  by  her  to  be  sung  on  the  return  of  Barak  and  his  warriors  from 
the  pursuit. 

Deborah,  the  prophetess,  was  wife  of  Lapidoth.  She  dwelt,  probably,  in 
a  tent,  under  a  well-known  palm-tree,  between  Ramah  and  Bethel,  where 
she  judged  Israel  (Judg.  iv.  4,  5).  This  probably  means  that  she  was  the 
organ  of  communication  between  God  and  his  people,  and  probably  on 
account  of  the  influence  and  authority  of  her  character,  was  accounted  in 
some  sort  as  the  head  of  the  nation,  to  whom  questions  of  doubt  and  diffi¬ 
culty  were  referred  for  decision.  In  her  triumphal  song  she  says : — 

“  In  the  days  of  Shamgar,  son  of  Anath, 

In  the  days  of  Jael  the  ways  lay  desert, 

And  high-way  travellers  went  in  winding  by-paths. 

Leaders  failed  in  Israel,  they  failed, 

Until  that  I  Deborah  arose, 

That  I  arose,  a  mother  in  Israel.” 


INDEX. 


Abel  not  responsible  for  Cain,  167. 

Abraham,  his  question  to  God,  23  ;  his 
confidence  in  God,  24. 

Achan,  meaning  of,  167 ;  his  guilt  and 
punishment,  170;  a  representative 
man,  1 72,  et  seq. 

Achor,  meaning  of,  168,  170. 

Adam,  a  child-man,  29 ;  his  apostasy, 
73  ;  his  sin  and  its  consequence,  27 1. 

Adoni-bezek,  308. 

Adoni-zedec,  displeasure  of,  195. 

After  rest,  254. 

Agnosticism  v.  the  Cross,  144. 

Ai,  th.e  taking  of,  spiritualised,  1 79 ; 
burning  of,  184. 

Alliances,  mysterious,  242. 

Amorites,  history  and  locality  of  the, 
322. 

Ancestors,  how  to  be  honoured,  63. 

Ancient  records,  great  meanings  in, 
325- 

Aspects  of  human  character,  62. 

Bad  men,  contagion  of,  206. 

Bad  names  in  history,  226. 

Beagle ,  the,  voyage  of,  143. 

Beth-aven,  meaning  of,  164. 

Bible,  wanton  treatment  of  the,  by 
unbelievers,  38  ;  unchangeable,  49  ; 
only  asks  to  be  read,  51  ;  cannot  be 
exhausted,  59;  how  and  when  to  be 
read,  94,  95  ;  has  nothing  to  fear, 
123;  a  mirror,  169;  may  be  made 
an  idol,  188;  the  book  for  the  people, 
291  ;  its  inspiration,  300. 

Biblical  interpretation,  science  of,  203. 

Blood,  redemption  by,  256. 


Bochim,  why  so  named,  325,  331. 

Bridges,  Thomas,  his  life  and  work, 
144- 

Brimstone  and  fire,  why  sent,  33. 

Cain,  astonishment  of,  21 ;  avails  him¬ 
self  of  asking  a  question,  22  ;  still  a 
murderer,  31. 

Caleb,  claim  of,  22S  ;  asserts  his  youth¬ 
fulness,  230 ;  his  daughter’s  request, 
245  ;  claims  his  portion,  250. 

Calebs,  three,  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
233- 

Character,  contrasts  in,  166. 

Chastenings,  when  triumphs,  168. 

Cheerfulness,  influence  of,  230. 

Child-questioners,  how  to  be  received, 
no. 

Christ,  Spirit  of,  what  is  obedience  to 
the,  154;  numerous  enemies  of,  212 ; 
their  unity,  2 1 4. 

Christian  example,  power  of,  1 24. 

Christians,  disunity  of,  214. 

Church,  the,  lacking  in  courage,  66 ; 
what  is  lost  by  leaving,  72  ;  reasons 
of  its  hesitancy,  108 ;  oneness  of, 
134;  no  place  for  indolence,  185; 
ruined  by  clever  men,  189. 

Coming  up  out  of  Jordan,  116. 

Commandments,  their  hold  upon  moral 
attention,  23. 

Competitive  spirit,  development  of, 
241. 

Conjunctions,  curious  and  interesting, 
163. 

Crises,  severe,  the  Christian  course  in. 

86. 


INDEX . 


357 


Criticism,  a  vicious  inspiration,  l8l  ; 
should  find  no  place  in  the  Church, 

185- 

Cross  of  Christ,  Christian  glorying  in, 
347  ;  its  daily  miracles,  ib. 

Curious  conjunctions,  163. 

Darwin,  Charles,  testimony  of,  143. 
David,  “very  old”  at  seventy,  229. 
Death,  our  obligations  to,  47;  a  Jordan 
to  be  passed,  1 14 ;  interrupting  life’s 
work,  224. 

Deborah  and  her  song,  348,  354,  355. 
Defences,  when  worthless,  117. 
Deliverer,  need  of  a,  337  ;  Christ  the 
only,  33S. 

Despondency,  how  to  soliloquise  in, 

169. 

Devil,  the,  his  utterances,  14;  a  civil 
questioner,  16;  the  first  interroga¬ 
tor,  21;  never  repents,  34;  and  the 
tl  honest  doubters,”  108 ;  not  to  be 
believed,  207. 

Discipline,  147;  of  life,  148;  nature  of, 

I51- 

Distribution,  237. 

Divine  and  human  influence,  324. 

Dust,  what  is  it  ?  31;  theology  of,  ib. 

Earnestness,  force  of,  215. 

Eastern  ploughing,  description  of,  344. 
Ehud,  339 ;  an  ambidexter,  ib. ;  343. 
Emotion,  value  of,  325. 

Englishmen,  infallibility  of,  238. 
Enlargement,  days  of,  98. 

Eulogium,  the  only,  worth  having, 
328. 

Excursus,  290. 

Faint-hearted  men,  a  call  to-,  60. 
Falsehood,  consequence  and  punish¬ 
ment  of,  128. 

Fame,  what  is  the  true,  257. 

Five  modern  kings,  202. 

Forefathers,  gratitude  due  to,  235. 

Gibeon,  the  town  of,  193;  site  of,  ib. 
Gibeonites,  the,  186. 


God,  quotes  himself,  57;  inspires  all 
men,  66 ;  sovereignty  of,  69 ;  defied 
by  Israel,  122  ;  in  history,  140 ;  his 
elective  laws,  160;  apparent  waste¬ 
fulness  of,  203  ;  his  service,  blessed¬ 
ness  of,  223 ;  records  every  man’s 
life,  225  ;  his  throne  for  ever  and 
ever,  271. 

Good  deeds  maybe  done  selfishly,  310. 

Good  men,  influence  of,  341. 

Goodness,  not  hereditary,  167 ;  not 
forced  upon  men,  315;  always  in¬ 
fluential,  341. 

Gospel,  the,  its  signification,  69. 

Grace,  what  is  meant  by  growing  in, 
267. 

Great  men,  perils  of,  341. 

Great  Questions  of  the  Pentateuch,  14. 

Hailstones,  the  allies  of  God,  198; 
'against  the  bad  man,  200. 

“Handfuls  of  Purpose”  (Deut.),  I. 

- (Joshua),  273. 

“Harmless”  questions,  the  source  of, 

14- 

Harvest,  the  miracle  of,  1 1 3. 

Heaven,  a  reward,  68 ;  selfish  desire 
Tor,  75 ;  the  true,  240 ;  citizenship 
of,  251. 

- ,  kingdom  of,  how  hindered,  152. 

Hell,  proper  place  for  the  wicked,  31 1. 

Hell-gate  Rock,  New  York,  dangerous¬ 
ness  of,  142  ;  practically  impassable, 
ib. ;  destroyed  by  explosives,  145. 

Hindered  by  sin,  156. 

Hindrances,  obscure,  159. 

History,  incredible  incidents  in,  330. 

Holiness,  God’s  benediction  upon,  267. 

Human  character,  aspects  of,  62. 

-  life,  programme  of  all,  39 ;  stony 

places  in,  40 ;  based  upon  divine 
discipline,  ib.  ;  to  be  really  grand, 
must  be  religious,  41. 

- race,  its  history  in  Genesis,  107. 

Imagination,  the  faculty- of,  318. 

Immortalit}',  the  only,  worth  living  for, 
227. 


358 


INDEX. 


Impertinent  prayers,  342. 

Incarnations,  God’s  delight  in,  334; 

God  answers  by,  335. 

Individualism,  exaggeration  of,  174. 
Individuality,  a  Bible  principle,  90. 
Infirmities,  advantages  of,  340. 

Inspired  man,  the,  characteristics  of, 

335- 

Institutions,  doomed,  must  be  de¬ 
stroyed,  180. 

Interferences,  spiritual,  influence  of, 

121. 

Interviews,  how  satisfactorily  closed, 
261. 

Introduction  to  the  Book  of  Judges, 
305- 

Jabin,  king  of  Canaan,  oppressing 
Israel,  349. 

■ - ,  king  of  Hazor,  219. 

Jael,  her  conduct,  how  to  be  judged, 

353- 

Jericho,  site  of,  80. 

Jerusalem,  the  king  of,  slain,  205  ; 
meaning  of,  ib. 

Jesus,  the  name  to  sinners  dear,  37. 

- Christ,  his  conduct  before  men, 

149;  heard  “gladly”  by  the  com¬ 
mon  people,  291. 

John  the  Baptist,  his  greatness,  272. 
Jordan,  priests  crossing  the,  104;  over¬ 
flow  of,  69  ;  in  its  pride,  1 16  ;  coming 
up  out  of,  1 16. 

Joshua,  his  birthplace,  45  ;  his  pedi¬ 
gree,  ib. ;  called  to  succeed  Moses, 
48  ;  referred  to  written  orders,  ib. ; 
his  promotion  accounted  for,  55;  his 
official  antecedents,  62 ;  his  purpose, 

64  ;  a  soldier,  ib. ;  divinely  qualified, 

65  ;  his  unquestioning  faith,  69 ;  his 
official  ancestry,  99 ;  his  capacity 
for  suffering,  158;  and  Achan,  162; 
his  military  life,  183  ;  builds  an 
altar,  184;  at  Gibeon,  1 95 ;  slays 
five  kings,  209;  thoroughness  of  his 
work,  218;  “stricken  in  years,”  222; 
his  infinite  wit,  247  ;  his  valedictory 
speech,  258;  his  noble  appeal,  265; 


his  death,  270;  burial,  ib. ;  eulogium 
on,  ib. ;  a  compliment  to,  327. 

Joshua,  the  Book  of,  44. 

Judges,  introduction  to  Book  of,  305. 

Judgment,  how  to  be  spoken,  266. 

Justice,  certain  vindication  of,  3 1 1 

Lamb,  the  wrath  of  the,  199. 

Land,  distribution  of  the,  244. 

Leadership,  the  true  spirit  of,  268. 

Leisure,  responsibility  of,  320. 

Liars,  bad  times  for,  19 1 ;  humiliation 
of,  192. 

Life,  marvellous  coincidences  in,  82 ; 
carried  by  surprises,  140 ;  wrong 
starts  in,  255;  a  series  of  surprises, 
3X3- 

Lord’s  artillery,  the,  1 95. 

Love,  foolish  and  mistaken,  249. 

Lying,  no  justification  for,  85. 

Lytton,  Lord,  quoted,  127. 

Malachi  and  Matthew,  distance  be¬ 
tween,  179. 

Man  and  his  call,  the,  45. 

- ,  his  littleness,  196,  197;  his  free¬ 
will,  316. 

Manna,  ceasing  of,  131. 

Memorable  events,  126. 

Memorial  stones,  107. 

Men  delighting  in  crowds,  71. 

Metaphysician,  the  usefulness  of  the, 
298. 

Miracle-denier,  the,  an  enigma,  113. 

Miracles,  reason  for  their  cessation, 

132. 

Modern  wickedness,  variety  of,  34. 

Moses,  questions  God,  26 ;  five  books 
of,  29 ;  his  character  studied,  35 ; 
his  resplendent  name,  36;  had  no 
Bible,  48;  is  succeeded  by  Joshua, 
ib. ;  “  after  the  death  of,”  52,  56. 

Moses  and  the  Lamb,  the  song  of,  37. 

Motives,  complexity  of,  74. 

New  Sj'mbol,  the,  88. 

/ 

Old  folks  at  home,  obligations  to  the, 
328. 


INDEX. 


359 


Old  men,  their  religious  testimony, 

259. 

Opportunity,  every  man  has  his,  1 08. 

Opportunities,  brief  duration  of,  1 19. 

Oppression,  causes  of,  350. 

Othniel,  333 ;  special  work  of,  336. 

•  Paraclete,  the,  promise  of,  92. 

Peculiarities,  weakness  of,  340;  strength 
of,  ib. 

Pentateuch,  great  questions  of  the, 
14;  as  a  whole,  29;  full  of  God,  ib. ; 
theology  of,  32;  human  nature  de¬ 
scribed  in,  ib. ;  its  fearlessness,  ib.  ; 
who  wrote  it  ?  35  ;  moral  purpose 
of,  ib. ;  religiousness  of,  41  ;  diffi¬ 
culties  of  the,  299  ;  discrepancies  of 
the,  ib. 

Politician’s  base  excuse,  a,  234. 

Practical  questions,  294. 

Prayer,  mystery  of,  333 ;  dragged  to  a 
base  level,  334. 

Prayers,  13,  28,  43,  61,  70,  78,  88,  96, 
106,  1 15,  125,  135,  147,  155,  163,  171, 
178,  186,  194,  201,  210,  220,  228,  236, 
244,  253,  312,  323,  332,  348. 

Preachers,  doubting,  bad  influence  of, 
269;  stumbling  of,  346. 

Preaching,  “foolishness”  of,  141. 

Priests,  should  be  leaders,  104,  105. 

Providence,  the  method  of,  88 ;  de¬ 
velopment  of,  91;  in  history,  1 1 2  ; 
brought  under  criticism,  157;  slan¬ 
dered,  ib. ;  revealed  in  the  Bible,  297. 

Publican,  the  prayer  of  the,  333. 

Punishment,  what  is  “  everlasting,” 
176  ;  law  of,  309. 

Question-askers,  God’s  treatment  of, 

19. 

Question-asking,  morality  of,  14  ;  mis¬ 
chief  of,  15  ;  tricks  of,  ib. 

Questions,  some,  addressed  to  God, 
21  ;  what  kind  of  questions  may  be 
addressed  to  God,  26. 

Rahab,  a  figure  in  history,  80 ;  her 
pedigree,  ib. ;  a  student  of  history, 


83;  her  treachery  and  falsehood,  84  ; 
her  marvellous  faith,  85;  commended 
by  Christ’s  apostles,  87. 

Reasonableness  requisite  in  higher  as 
in  lower  things,  295. 

Recorded  life,  a,  220. 

Refuge,  cities  of,  254. 

Religion,  an  easy,  15 1  ;  mystery  in, 
303. 

Respectability  may  be  blasphemy,  182  ; 
men  overpowered  by,  319. 

“  Rest,”  meditation  on  the  word,  54. 

Right  living,  the  only  way  of,  123. 

“  Right,”  the  term  considered,  180. 

Security,  what  is  the  true,  208. 

Self-damnation,  man’s  power  of,  1 31. 

-  examination,  suggestions  as  to, 

161. 

Servants  of  the  Lord,  sublime  position 
of,  329. 

Shamgar,  344;  his  use  of  the  ox  goad, 

345- 

Shechem,  the  tribes  gathered  to,  264, 
268  ;  the  covenant  made  in,  270. 

Signs  of  the  times,  136. 

Silence,  a  time  for,  1 52. 

Sin,  an  abomination  to  God,  176. 

Sisera,  chariots  of,  353. 

Soldiers  needed  in  the  Church,  76. 

Sorrow,  fts  effect  upon  men,  25. 

Spirit  and  purpose  of  divine  provi¬ 
dence,  the,  80. 

Spiritual  evolution,  91. 

Statesmen,  what  their  characteristics 
should  be,  260. 

Success,  non-,  accounted  for,  64. 

Sun  standing  still,  no  mystery,  204. 

Superstition,  philosophy  of,  187. 

Tears,  the  best  words,  325. 

Temptation  followed  by  judgment,  17. 

Tepid  man,  difficulties  with  the,  183. 

Theologian  and  Christian,  contrasted, 
292. 

Timidity,  the  language  of,  102 ;  when 
a  sin,  ib. 

Tradition  valuelessness  of,  326,  327. 


360 


INDEX. 


Tribulation,  Christian  globing  in,  321. 
Tributaries,  313. 

Truth,  fearlessness  of,  190;  nothing 
but,  will  stand,  19 1 ;  God  on  the 
side  of,  192.  • 

Types  of  Christian  warfare,  211. 

Unanimity,  71. 

Up  to  the  brink,  97. 

Warfare,  the  law  of,  21 1. 


Wasted  lives,  what  is  meant  by,  81. 
Wicked,  the,  sure  punishment  of, 
36. 

Wickedness,  men  hindered  by  their, 

121. 

Widow’s  mite,  value  of  the,  221. 
Wilberforce,  Dr.  Samuel,  quoted,  69. 
Worldly  man,  the,  limitations  of,  314. 

Youth,  the  speech  of,  73. 


END  OF  VOL.  V. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112  119577770 


